Lost Tales of Fantasia
by StrangePointOfView
Summary: All of your favorite Disney heroes after 1939. A darkfic about the unanswered questions of the Disneyverse.
1. Once Upon a Time

A/N: Have you ever really wondered about some of the things that go on in Disney movies? If the Friends On The Other Side only had Dr. Facilier as an ally, they wouldn't have killed him, so somewhere out there must be another guy with access to the forces of darkness just waiting to trap all of our souls. Why did a drop of sunlight fall in Tangled? Why is Pocahantas' grandmother a willow tree? How did a miserable old man like Captain Hook end up in Neverland?

This is a Darkfic which will answer those questions. For those of you who don't like it when their childhood is destroyed, I wouldn't recommend reading forward. Of course, this is a Disney movie, so there won't be any swearing, and innuendo and kissing is about as much as you can expect when it comes to romance (though, you can bet that anybody stated within the fic to have a relationship will be in a physical relationship offscreen). But Anything and everything else happens, they just happen offscreen in Disney movies. Here, the dark things are very much on screen.

I won't touch Pixar, but be warned that you can never unread what you once read. So those of you who love Disney films may not want to read on.

* * *

_Once Apon a Time..._

* * *

"Pray, take this flower in exchange for shelter from the storm."

The young prince turned his nose up at the old woman at his door. "A flower? I don't need a flower! Go away you old hag." The doors slammed shut.

The optimistic smile left the old lady's face as she sniffed and sniffled. She banged on the door feebly. "Please… please, you must let me in."

She felt the cold envelope her and she welcomed it, for it was a sign that she wasn't yet dead. "Please!" She screamed. "Let me in!"

Suddenly, she felt warm. "Oh no." She shivered. "Oh no oh no oh no."

"Madame Odette." The old lady shivered as she heard the voice. "Ah, I've found you at last." The clank clank of goblins in full armor drew near.

"Let me in!"

"Oh hush now Madame, you embarrass yourself." A crow landed on the old lady's shoulder, and no matter how she shook it wouldn't remove itself.

"There there." The lean green skinned woman emerged from the blizzard, enjoying herself. "Why do you shiver? Have I not warmed you? Have I not sheltered you from the blizzard? Why would I desire to harm you?"

"Stay away!" The lady took a torch from her robes and brandished it. The goblins recoiled in horror, but Maleficent merely smiled.

"My dear Madame, you're frightening my children." She licked her fingers, and reach out, putting the magic torch out with a sizzle.

"Please… stay away…"

"Oh my dear Madame." Malificent stroked the figure curled on the ground. "Here, I shall comfort you. But first…" Malificent reach into the figure. She screamed and clutched, but by some power Malificent drew the flower out of her robes.

"Ah, you have given me a great gift Madame Odette." Malificent said. "I shall give you a gift in return. I shall give you comfort. I shall give you the gift of life. And I shall crush those who have spurned you, with all the powers of hell."

"No… no…"

Malificent rose up, with a burst of fire, and light, and began an angel. The doors to the castle swung open, and the prince and all therein stood in shocked mute horror. Odeline watched in horror as the prince transformed into a wretched beast, and his servants took the place of the castle's ornaments. The prince beast howled in despair, and a great crying and wailing came out of the castle.

"You see, it's Christmas." Maleficent said, touching down in front of the quivering woman, still in angelic form. "There should be gifts. Here, because I am a generous soul, you shall be given another."

Odette tried to run, but the angel followed, carrying the flower in her hand.

"_Flower, gleam, and glow!_

_Let your powers shine!_

_Break the mantle's clock,_

_And lock the chains of time!_

_The chains of tiiiimwahahahahahahaha!"_

The old lady collapsed into tears. "Yes dear Odette, you will stay like this forever. Never to taste death's kiss. Haven't I given you such a gift?" She knelt down before the poor unfortunate soul. "Ah, but since you seem to be unsatisfied, perhaps another gift?" She kissed the old lady's forehead. "I shall give you the gift of a mind at peace."

Odette instantly stopped crying. "Woohoo!" She laughed. "That was sure some party that went on in there!" She waved at the castle's baleful residents, though she couldn't see them through the blizzard. "Hey, try not to get lice!" She cackled.

Malificent nodded. "Are you happy with your gifts?" She asked mockingly. "Good. However, I gave you three gifts and you only gave me one. You should give me more. Hmmm… what could you possibly have that I would want? Oh, I know… Odeline dear, I would be very happy if you would give me your teeth and your eyes?"

"Sure!" the old lady chuckled. "It is Christmas after all!"

"I thought you would say so." Malificent gestured to her crow who proceeded to take the gifts she'd asked for.

"Merry Christmas than Odette." Malificent turned to leave, but stopped.

The Rose had left her hands.

Malificent turned green again. "What did you do?"

Odette laughed. "You were so focused on what you wanted, you couldn't see what you needed." She tapped her empty eye sockets, thinking here play on the word 'see' was a great joke.

"What did you do?"

"Oh." Odette chuckled. "It was nothing. I just liked your gift so much, I had to improve on it." She gestured to the castle. "Love was always the thing to break your spells. But the flower is added onto that. A fortress filled to bursting with enchanted items, and a very temperamental beast that you yourself designed. The only way to get that flower back is to break the curse. But you hate true love, even more than you want that flower don't you?"

Malificent glared at the old lady, who now had blood streaming from her mouth, as the crow carried her teeth away, one by one.

"You fool. Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"I'd say I tricked you into shattering your own plans like a glass window. And you can't even gloat, because, just like you designed, I don't even care."

Malificent wreathed herself in flame, and vanished into the night with a scream of rage. The goblins melted into the shadows.

Madame Odette chuckled. "Now… I was supposed to be doing something wasn't I?" She shrugged. "Ah, I don't care. It's Christmas. I'm gonna go paint the town red."

And so, the little old lady who was perfectly happy with the blood streaming down her face danced through the forest. Leaving behind her the forces of darkness which she'd sworn to protect the world from in favor of a Christmas party.


	2. The Hawk and the Mouse

A/N: For those of you who don't know this is a darkfic. So anybody who wants rainbows and unicorns might want to heed the M rating. This is the Chapter where stuff really kicks off; the first real death, mysteries arise, and the first song. Well of course there'll be songs, this is a Disney fic after all!

* * *

_How can a Mouse... Defeat a Dragon?_

* * *

The sorcerer sighed. His scars felt heavier today.

"Apprentice?"

The young man in his charge was small for his age. Although, that probably had something to do with the fact that he was part rodent. His apprentice's name was Mickey. And he was a mouse.

The Sorcerer had found him during a journey to India. He had to help his friend Mowgli defend his 'Red Flower'. If he'd known what the flower truly was, perhaps he'd understand why it was Merlin who had helped him. Or why somebody as powerful as Maleficent had wanted it.

But one thing hadn't been accounted for in the fighting that day – a no-name street rat had stumbled into the fray, and into the path of one of Malificent's curses. After the fight, the young man-turned-mouse introduced himself as Mickey. A young British orphan who'd snuck away from his rotten orphanage and stowed away onto the oriental express.

Merlin was fortunate enough to know English, otherwise Mowgli would have taken him in. He'd never heard of a case where a half-human mouse was raised in a pack of wolves, but he didn't need to be the world's greatest wizard to see it would have ended badly.

"My apprentice?"

Mickey scurried into the room. "I'm here sir."

The old wizard looked at him sadly. "Fetch the hat boy. We have much to do, and we must finish at least half of it in five minutes, and frankly there are limits to even my control over time."

Mickey stared confused after his mentor as he left. He was about to ask a question, but then he remembered Merlin's first rule; You will never be three quarters as smart as I am, and if I tell you to do something your life may depend on it so do it.

Mickey decided to fetch the hat.

Mickey was still only an apprentice wizard. He'd only just learned the substitutiary locomotion spell, and he hadn't quite gotten the knack of flying on broomsticks. But he understood the basics, and they were these;

Magic power can come from two places. It can come from animals, and it can come from very, very powerful objects, whose powers tapped into the Seven Temperaments themselves.

But he was just an apprentice. Even if he did have something which could tap into one of the Seven Temperaments. No, Mickey used Mouse Magic. Mouse Magic was really tricky to use, but not one of the most powerful forms of magic. Merlin practiced Hawk magic, which he described as being immensely powerful and easy as flying, but difficult to maintain without turning to the dark side of magic.

Mickey picked up his hat.

His hat was his Stave. His link to the magical world. All sorcerers had them. Merlin had never told Mickey what his Stave was, and he advised Mickey to never tell anybody that his own Stave was his hat.

Mickey scrambled back to his master. "We now have four minutes. You need to be quick you bumbling boy."

"S-sorry sir." The apprentice said meekly, offering his master the hat.

Merlin shook his head. "Keep it. Your apprenticeship is done."

"W-what?" Mickey stammered.

"It's finished." Merlin said. "Over. I'm going off on a little journey, and you aren't allowed to follow me. You survived without me across two continents, you should be competent enough by now to take a hint."

Mickey shook. "B-but sir, I don't know anything!"

Merlin shook his head. "If I'd known…" He glared at him. "There is a prophecy boy. A prophecy that during England's darkest hour, Merlin and King Arthur will rise again. I had thought I would survive long enough to fulfill that prophecy. But England's darkest hour is upon us, and I'm afraid I must leave. You must take my place."

"B-but sir, I'm not like you." Mickey said. "I'll never be like you. You're powerful and you're smart, and you're -"

"I'm a good student." Merlin said. "I always have been. Orderly, studious, doing what my master told me until I could be as powerful as he is. And I tried to teach you that way, but it should have been obvious from the start that it was exactly the wrong thing to do."

Merlin knelt down next to him. "Now, you listen to me boy. Magicians who study Mouse Magic need to be clever, and I think that's what you are. I never found a way to travel two continents without magic. We need that boy right now. That boy who snuck onto the not just a train but the greatest train he could find, a boy who decided that he might get away with using magic beyond his ken to avoid hauling water to my well."

"But that was different." Mickey said. "You said it yourself, I didn't know what I was doing."

"Indeed." Merlin said. "And fortune sometimes deigns to favor the foolish."

Suddenly the room shook. "Sir…"

"The tower is under attack." Merlin said, barely keeping the rage from his voice. It would not do to alarm his apprentice further. "Now, listen to me, for I will tell you what to do."

He gestured out of the window. "See the North Star boy? Take a broomstick, and fly towards the second star to the right. Fly straight on until morning. Search for the members of the Order of Fantasia. If you can't find one there, then look for the Oracle. There are six flowers, and whatever the cost you must keep Maleficent from getting her green hands on them."

Mickey fumbled along these instructions in his mind. "But what are the six flowers? What is the Order of Fantasia? Who's the Oracle?"

"Use your head boy!" Merlin said. "And remember not to trust a cat! Now fly!"

The tower shook again, and Mickey fell to the ground. When he looked up, his master was already descending down the stairs. Then it hit Mickey what he'd said.

_I'm going off on a little journey, and you aren't allowed to follow me._

_I had thought I would survive long enough to fulfill that prophecy._

_The tower is under attack._

"Oh no."

Mickey scrambled down the stairs after his master.

* * *

Merlin stood in front of his fountain. And the doors to his tower erupted open.

Maleficent stood in all of her majesty. Behind her, several men in black uniforms and red armbands stood back and surveyed the damage. One of them hefted up a large gun, and fired a rocket at the old sorcerer.

Merlin smiled grimly, and the rocket stopped. It shook for a moment, in fear, then turned and fled and hid behind a pillar.

"Fool." Maleficent made a slight gesture, and the man who presumed to kill Merlin suddenly realized that there was a hole in his throat.

"If you have come to match powers with me Maleficent, you will find yourself outmatched."

Maleficent smiled. "Come now Merlin, is there no reason we cannot be friends?"

"If you were my friend, you would have killed yourself by now or driven yourself to madness."

Maleficent shook her head. "I remember when you held me in your arms. I was just a little girl then, and you were so old. Ancient. But every year that we grow older is a year that you grow younger. You are not as powerful as you once were."

"I am powerful enough."

"But not strong enough. Not in mind. You're at the half-way mark now. Too young to be the bumbling old father figure, and too old to be a hero again. You're just an angry bitter old man now."

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to pick fights with angry bitter old men?"

Maleficent's face contorted with rage.

"Yes, I am old and bitter. But I'm still strong enough in mind and heart that you words will have no effect on me. But can the same be said of you?"

"I am going to kill you now." Maleficent said.

"Your mother would be ashamed." Merlin said.

Mickey watched from the shadows as Merlin refused to be lulled into anger. And he shuddered as he saw Maleficent transform into a mighty dragon. How could Merlin think he could defeat her? She used Dragon Magic.

But Merlin used Hawk Magic.

"Dormiens Draconis Avanti!" The pillars in the room came to life, and slithered around her, pinning her down.

Mickey smiled. Maybe Merlin wouldn't have to die!

Suddenly something dark came out of the shadows, and struck Merlin. The old sorcerer fell back, crashing into a wall, as the dark man sat at the well.

"I'll put down good money that you didn't expect to see me here." The man in black was tall and lean. He wore no shoes, and sat like a posh British gentleman. His ears stuck out of the sides of his face, a face which was at the same time mischievous and proud.

"I wondered how somebody could get as powerful as you Merlin." The gentleman said in his arrogant British voice. "And now wonder. Your Stave is a well. Constantly filling it with new water, and flushing out the old. Constantly refreshing your magic. Ingenious, if I do say so."

Merlin rose shakily to his feet. "Lord Fisk?" He sputtered in shocked horror. "What are you doing with her?"

"Oh, I know dear boy." Lord Fisk said, as calmly as if he were sipping tea. "It's all so dreadfully barbaric. And what with the enemy bombing us and trying to erase my culture, well, I do feel a certain proprietary to fight against them." He smiled, almost apologetically. "But then they offered me the chance to off the world's most powerful sorcerer, and, well, how do you say no to that?"

Merlin shook his head. "Fisk… your pride will ever be your downfall, and that of all of your descendants."

"I really am sorry chap." Fisk said. "Do try and make a good show of it." He turned to Maleficent. "If you please, I assume that even magical water can evaporate?"

Maleficent reared her ugly head and green flame poured out of her mouth.

Fisk waited until the well was completely dry. "And now that we're on an even footing with regards to magic…" Fisk ran forward.

Mickey stared. Lord Fisk, whoever he was, was using Monkey magic. A form of magic which was uniquely suited to fighting. He was also using Monkey Kung-fu, a fighting style formed by imitating monkeys.

But Merlin was using Hawk Kung-fu. Mickey didn't even know he could, but apparently so. As Lord Fisk flung himself at Merlin with abandon, using all four limbs as lethal weapons, bouncing across the room, Merlin simply stood and watched, with a predatory look on his face, before stepping lightly out of the way.

Fisk's kicks went wild, but an arm lashed out, and again Merlin simply wasn't there. Fisk was fast, but Merlin moved in a blur, always staying a step ahead of Fisk until, suddenly, Fisk withdrew, blood covering the side of his black uniform, and two of Merlin's fingers.

Fisk closed his eyes. "Speed of Spider monkey!" He yelled, and he launched himself at Merlin again. This time, as Merlin moved faster than the eye could follow, Fisk caught his arm. The snap was the loudest thing Mickey ever heard.

The pair of them were soon demolishing the well room, Merlin striking magical attacks and Fisk fighting monkey style, until suddenly, before Mickey knew what was happening, Merlin lay on the ground and Fisk stood over him.

"You're good for an old man." Fisk said. The spells in the room crumbled, and Maleficent loomed over Merlin gloatingly.

"And I didn't get that way because I was easy to kill." Suddenly, Merlin disappeared.

"I thought you cast a flight prevention spell?" Fisk asked.

"I did." Maleficent said. "This is his trump card."

"Indeed." A voice said. "I have transformed myself into Monotemperal Lupinatorix, a rare deadly disease that –"

He was cut short as Maleficent wreathed herself in flame. The disembodied voice soon became disembodied screams. "You will find that I burn hotter than my daughter Merlin." Maleficent said, putting all the venom she could into the last words he would hear. "This is for Mim you arrogant old fool."

She stopped burning and transformed herself back into her true form. "Soldiers!" The slack-jawed Nazis staring in the doorway reflexively stood at attention. "I want this well dismantled brick by brick and distributed across the world. Lord Fisk and I will be searching the castle."

* * *

And that was all Mickey could bear to watch. He fled. He fled up the stairs, he fumbled onto his broomstick and he flew away.

He landed in a medow, trying to get ahold of himself. Tears streamed down his face, and he looked up at the night sky.

_"I can't believe it's real._

_I can't believe they did it._

_I can't believe that what just happened,_

_Really happened,_

_I don't want to admit it._

_I already lost two parents._

_But I thought he could last, until the end..._

_I shouldn't have dared to hope again, for a father,_

_A new father._

_And now my heart's broken again._

_Now what am I supposed to do?_

_Where can I go?_

_Who can I turn to?_

_How can a Mouse hope to beat a Dragon?_

_This is war, and I'm not ready…_

_Why is life not fair?_

_Where can I go?_

_Who can I turn to?_

_How can a Mouse… defeat a Dragon?"_

And Mickey, not knowing what else to do, got back on his broomstick and flew through the night sky. He flew towards the second star on the right. He flew straight on to the morning.


	3. Neverland on Fire

A/N: All characters belong to Disney. Except Captain Rolf, he's from Sound Of Music. How did he get in here? He must be a spy for fox or something.

* * *

_Your mother must have dropped you as a child if you think you can cross blades with Captain James Hook!_

* * *

"Peter! Peter!"

Peter woke up from his nap as Tinkerbell woke him. "What is it Tink?"

"The pirates are engaged in a ferocious battle!" Tinkerball said, in the language of fairies.

"Really!" Peter leaped up. "With the Indians, the Mermaids, or the Lost boys?"

"It's something new." Tinkerbell said. "The Lost Boys are in trouble!"

"Something new?" Peter jumped at the opportunity. "Well what are you waitin' for Tink, let's go save the lost boys!"

He jumped up through the hollowed trunk of the tree, flying like it was second nature. He flew through the air, through the skies, and above Neverland. Somehow, he never got tired of Neverland. It's fairies, and its Indians. Tink said that the whole island grew around a special flower in its center, and that was where she got her fairy dust. He thought it all great fun.

Suddenly, something sailed through the air above him. "What's this?" It looked like a small metal ship, but it was flying.

"Oh Peter, look!"

Peter looked down and he couldn't believe his eyes.

A huuuuuuuuge pirate boat was sailing up to the Jolly Roger. The ship was making huge holes in the Jolly Roger, blasting the crew into the water.

The baby Kraken emerged from the drink, tentacles wrapping themselves around the metal hull. The people on board began to fire on it, allowing the Jolly Roger to crawl forward. "Prepare to board!" Hook yelled.

Peter flew down to the metal ship. As he crossed over Hook's sights, the old pirate gasped in horror. "No Peter! Don't!"

Peter landed on the deck. "Hey! Who are you and what are you doing in Neverland?"

The Ship's Captain walked up to him. "I am Captain Rolf." He said. "And you are the remarkable flying boy Peter Pan."

He gestured with his gloved hand and suddenly, a pair of men came behind him and pinned his arms to the side. "Hey! Let go of me!"

"By the order of the Furhur, you are to be executed." The Captain aimed his gun.

And it was promptly shot out of his hand. "Prepare to board!" Hook leaped onto the deck of the ship and started slashing with his saber. "Don't just stand there Pan, fight! Fight for your live!"

Smee readied his Blunderbuss, and fired, tearing through the heart of one of the soldiers holding Pan. Pan tore his arm free, pulling out his knife and stabbing the other soldier. He whistled for the lost boys, and flew to Hook's side. "Why didn't you kill him boy?" Hook growled, seeing the soldier Hook stab get up again.

"Who are they?" Peter asked.

"I don't know who they are." Hook said. "But if they want a war, then by Jove we'll give it to them!"

"But why are they shooting at us?" Peter asked.

Hook gave him a strange look. "Peter… most people don't think war is a game. If they capture us, they won't let us go. They won't even try to capture us. They'll try to kill us."

Peter paled. He'd always been safe playing war with the Indians or the pirates. He'd only ever heard of death in the stories Wendy told, and in Hook's constant threats. They were actually trying to…

The boat shook as the giant octopus fell off, dead. "Fight like the devil's at your backs men!" Hook yelled, leading the charge.

Peter flew into the air to try and catch his breath, but then one of the airplanes fired at him. He flew out of the way and Tinkerbell, glowing red, flew straight at the plane. She latched onto a screw and twirled around violently until it came out. The plane sputtered and veered off, crashing into the sea.

"Tink, we have to stop the other planes." Peter said.

And that was when the bombs fell.

In an instant, the Indian grounds were gone. Mermaid Lagoon turned into a crater. Skull Rock was dented. The fairy tree… Peter gritted his teeth and flew at the planes.

_"I can't believe it's real._

_I can't believe Neverland's dying._

_I can't believe that what is happening,_

_Is really happening,_

_I… suddenly feel like crying._

_Neverland is my home._

_And I thought I could be a child forever here. _

_Why would anybody come and burn it down,_

_Burn it all down,_

_My heart is shaking, is this fear?_

_Now what am I supposed to do?_

_Where can I go?_

_Who can I turn to?_

_Why can't war go back to being a game?_

_Why would anybody do this?_

_Why is life not fair?_

_Where can I go?_

_Who can I turn to?_

_Why has war stopped being a game?"_

The battle below them raged. The twins were shredded apart by a machine gun. "Captain!" Smee cried, as his white and blue shirt began to turn red.

Hook stood on top of a pile of bodies. His shirt was torn open, and his hair blew wildly across his manic face. He was the last one alive, and he was still going. Peter was scared. It was like Hook was suddenly a different person then the bumbling playful pirate Captian he knew.

"Come on then!" Hook yelled. "Come on! Is there any among you who thinks you are stronger then my despair? Any among you who thinks they are more deadly than my madness? Come on then! Your mothers must have dropped you as a child if you think you can cross blades with Captain James Hook!"

The Captain of the vessel watch Hook slaughter his soldiers. "Why is nobody shooting him?"

"They are sir." Said one of his subordinates. "But he's dodging the bullets."

The Captain sighed. "I really didn't want to have to do this." He pulled out his radio. "Triple X?"

"Yes?" The Captain winced at the sound of the voice; like nails on a blackboard.

"We need your assistance."

Grating laughter came over the radio, suddenly the top half of the ship opened up. A mechanical device Hefted up a platform with a huge gun attached. The man on the platform was as thin as an eel, with a messy beard and a manic grin.

"Death for Science!" Dr. XXX yelled. The gun fired, cleaving a beam of light straight through the air. Hook barely managed to dodge, as the gun fired at him. The beam shot straight through the pile of bodies and straight through the ship's deck and hull, disintegrating everything it touched, separating the bonds between the atoms.

Hook crawled out of the blast hole. Both his legs were gone below the knees.

"Hook!" Pan and Tinkerbell flew down to him.

Hook looked up weakly. "Peter…"

"They cut off your legs!" Peter was outraged. Hook was his villain! They've been fighting since forever! And these guys… they just came in and shot him! Like he was nothing! Pan was surprised to find that there was tears in his eyes. He'd never cried before, but he'd seen Jane do it.

"Peter, listen to me." Hook growled. "War isn't a game, and if you want to survive it, you'll have to grow up."

"Hook…" Tinkerbell worried.

Hook glared at her. "You know… I forgive you Tinkerbell. Now run away and never look back."

Tinkerbell saw Dr. XXX aim the gun again. "Come on Peter!" She pulled him away. "Come on we have to run!"

"Farewell my boy." Hook said, bidding Peter Ado. He sat himself up, and unscrewed his Hook. He took another hook out of his coat; his favorite golden one. He attached it to his hand firmly, took out a handkerchief and dabbed the blood off of his cheeks. "Ready when you are." He said grimly.

Dr. XXX fired.

A knife appeared from Hook's sleeve and he tossed it into the air.

As Hook disappeared in a blast of light, a single dagger floated like a leaf over the ship, twirling through the sky. It came down towards the platform and the cackling mad doctor looked up to the sky, as ig gloating to the heavens, only for his eyes to go wide with shock.

The blade went through his arm like a hot knife through butter.

Dr. XXX screamed and clutched at his arm. Tinkerbell saw her chance.

"Peter." She said. "Captain Hook kept a steel box in his cabin marked with a skull and crossbones. Go get it."

Unthinkingly, Peter flew down to the Jolly Roger, eager to do anything to stop this madness. Tinkerbell watched him go, sadly, and flew down to the Mad Doctor.

When she was born, she selected to be a Tinker fairy. Tinker fairies tinkers, all day all night, making fantastic devices from nature to help nature. But Tinkerbell, she'd always been at her best when she tinkered with the things she found on Neverland's shores. She would go down to the shore and pick out any of the toys and incredible, beautiful things and make something out of them.

She knew how humans thought when they created things. She knew their hand, how they made what they made and why they made them. She was very familiar with human work. So she could take in what this machine did in a glance, and the type of mind it took to make it. And it sickened her.

She dove straight at the control console and started pushing buttons.

"What… no!" The mad doctor swiped her up in his only remaining hand, but it was already too late. The self-destruct countdown had begun.

"Clever little Pixie." The Doctor threw Tinkerbell down on the ground and crushed her under his heel.

"Doctor!" The Captain yelled. "The ship is sinking!"

"Good luck with that!" He pressed a button on his belt, and Dr. XXX disappeared.

Peter flew out of the Jolly Roger. "I've got the box!" Peter said. "Tink? Tink where are you!"

Tinkerbell looked up at the console. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

Suddenly, Peter couldn't see. He felt something knock him back, over the entire island. He skidded to a stop on the ground somewhere near Mermaid Lagoon. He could see the explosion an island away.

Peter couldn't think of what to do. He needed to find Tinkerbell. He leaped up… and fell back down on the ground. He leaped up again… and fell on his face. He tried to come up with a happy thought. He tried and tried but he couldn't do it.

That was the last time Peter Pan would fly.


	4. The Tragedy of Captain Hook

A/N: I do not own any of the characters in this chapter. Only Disney does. Only Disney should.

Hey, let's play a game. Can you spot how many references to other Disney films there are? Can you figure out the riddles behind the Order of Fantasia?

* * *

_Everybody deserves a happy ending. Right?_

* * *

The fairies had their hands full. All of Neverland's trees were black, and gnarled and twisted. The burning wrecks of German bombers littered the island. The Indians were dead. All of them. Some mermaids survived, but they swam away back to their home.

Iridessa and Bobble flew all over the island searching for Peter Pan. She'd looked everywhere except those creepy underground tunnels.

"I think I heard something over there!" Bobble said. Iridessa's heart lifted for a moment, then fell when she saw it had come from Skull rock.

They flew in through a hole in the skull. Iridessa could indeed hear something. She heard Peter grunted, and the sounds of tinkering.

The found him on the floor. He was trying to pry open a box with his knife. "Peter!"

Peter looked up, then looked back down and kept on working.

Iridessa flew down to his eye level. "Peter, what's wrong?"

"It's this chest." Peter said. "Tinkerbell said I needed this chest, but I can't get it open."

"Ah, allow me." Bobble coughed, stretched his fingers, and flew into the lock.

Peter sat back and rested. "Peter, are you okay?" Iridessa asked.

"Do I look okay?"

Honestly, he didn't. She didn't know how, but every fairy knew that Peter was linked to Neverland. When he was happy, it was summer. When he was sad, it was winter, or stormy. Here… She didn't know what he was, but Neverland was getting to be a scary place to live in.

"I've got it!" Bobble flew out of the lock and the chest popped open.

Peter dug in and pulled out a book. "Iridessa, could you shine some light please?"

Iridessa flew out of the cave. It was gloomy outside, but there was one ray of light shining through the clouds. She grabbed it, and tugged it into the cave.

On the front of the book there was a letter. It was an old letter, and it wasn't sealed. It was addressed to Peter Pan.

_Dear Peter:_ It began. But the rest of the mess was crossed out, so Peter could barely read it.

_Peter, if you're reading this, than the odds are good that I have died before I could tell you…_

_Peter. If you're reading this, than I hope I'm not dead. But it is likely. I want to tell you something Peter, but I'm not sure how you will handle it. You see Peter, every child has a mother and a father. Your father is…_

_I hope this letter finds you well Peter. I hope I've told you this before this letter reaches you. I hope you never have to receive this letter. But you should know that you are the last of the noble house of Hook. I hope in time you can come around to your pirate heritage…_

_Listen Peter, It's about time somebody said this, but you really need to grow up. Seriously. I can't believe you're still being so immature…_

_Peter I'm your father. Does this upset you Peter? Good. Maybe I am your father, but maybe I'm not. Who's your mother Peter? This will haunt you until the end of your days…_

_Peter, I am your father. Search your feelings, you know this to be…_

_!_

_Sincerely, James Hook Esq._

Peter put down the note. "Hook is my…"

The two fairies reading over his shoulder looked at each other nervously.

Peter picked up the book. It was Hook's Captian's Log.

**_Captain's Log, July 5th, 1648._**

_Today, I start a new log, as I start a new life._

_I've put the Pirate Court behind me. Under my leadership, we've captured Callisto and bound the witch to human form. Pirates will now rule the seas. I've done my duty, and I hang up my hat until the next Pirate King is elected. Hopefully, Morgan & Bartholomew will be able to keep Pirates together until then. If not, Silver will be able to step in._

_I've also put the Order of Fantasia behind me. All of them except Tinkerbell._

_Ah, my dearest Tinkerbell. Our wedding was bliss. We barely waited to say goodbye to my old friend Silver before we started sailing to her home in Neverland for our Honeymoon. _

"What!" Peter looked at the pair of fairies. "Tinkerbell and Hook were married!"

They looked at each other guiltily. "Well, you see…" Iridessa hesitated.

"You never asked." Bobble said. "We thought… you know… you'd wonder why your ears were…"

"Do you mean pirates **don't** cut the points off people's ears when they're babies?"

"Ah, well, there you go. We… we didn't think to tell you. We thought Tinkerbell already…"

Peter kept on reading.

**_Captain's Log, March 17th 1649._**

_I haven't been writing as often as I should have. Tinkerbell is so full of distractions it's sometimes difficult to remember some of my obligations._

_Today, our son was born. Ah, my son. I'm thinking of naming him Jack. He'll grow up to be a mighty pirate, I can tell. He'll scourge the seven seas and become the next Pirate King._

_But childbirth was rough going. If I hadn't had the flower, Tinkerbell could have died. Would have died._

"What's childbirth?" Peter asked.

The Bobble blushed. "We'll tell you when you're older." Iridessa said.

**_Captain's Log, March 24th, 1649_**

_I cannot believe her! _

_She wants to name our son Peter… Peter of all things! Peter isn't the name of a pirate! And when I told her, she said that she didn't want to raise him to be a pirate, she wanted to raise him to be a fairy! He's not a fairy! He's a boy, and he could grow up to be a pirate! A flying pirate! He'd be the terror of the skies and the seas!_

_We've been talking for a week now, and she's left. I knew fairies could be stubborn, but to get her pixiedust in a twist over such a thing as a name!_

"Jack." Peter liked the way that rolled off the tongue.

**_Captain's log, March 30th, 1649_**

_I've been trying to negotiate for several days now. I fear I may never see my son again. Why is she being so stubborn? I thought that she loved me._

_Neverland seems a hollow place now._

Peter knew how that felt. He only needed to look outside to see how hollow Neverland was.

**_Captain's Log, April 1st, 1649_**

_I went to hell today._

"What's hell?" Peter asked. The fairies on his shoulders shrugged nervously.

_I met the Hare who arrogantly challenged the Tortoise to a race, condemned forever to be late._

_I met the twin demons of wrath and they sang me a song of death, despair, and cannibalism._

_I met the god of sloth and his insane henchmen. One of them made me a new hat out of the skin of children._

_And finally, I met the queen of lust and heartache. She stared at me with her angry eyes, and demanded my mind as the price for my love for Tinkerbell._

_And I looked at her and I said; Why don't you try and take it?_

_Oh, it was glorious. I felt just like a child again, with the other members of the Order of Fantasia. Fighting my way through hell and back, defeating monsters, ah the joy! This must be why Neverland feels so hollow. There's no adventure! No excitement! I only enjoyed it because of Tinkerbell, and now… now I need something else._

Peter… sympathized. It felt strange thinking he had something in common with Captain Hook. But once, he had him on the ropes and ready to feed to a crocodile and he didn't. Because he didn't want the game to end.

**_Captain's Log, April 4th, 1649_**

_I have started a war with the Indians! _

_Oh, to feel the fire in my blood again! I let them win of course, it wouldn't do to upset my precious Tinkerbell. But my word, it feels marvelous to be in a fight again!"_

The next several logs were detailed descriptions of Hook's battles. Peter became truly frightened by these parts. They were detailed step by step strategems, listing how he always got away without a single dead crewmember, listen specific Indians he needed to keep an eye on, and even kill, gloating about exactly what he could have done to win the fight, and recording the few times he made a mistake or somebody caught him by surprise so he could adjust for future fights.

Peter realized that if Hook had ever really wanted him dead, he'd have killed him.

**_Captain's Log, February 28th, 1716_**

_You'll note that although two years have passed since my time in Neverland, 68 years have passed back on earth. _

_I went back to visit my home, and found it aged. Apperantly, Neverland has a strange effect on time. It must be something to do with that flower I brought over, or perhaps it's Tinkerbell's doing. I wouldn't put it past her._

_I met with John Silver's descendants. He's dead now unfortunately. But his grandson Callico Jack is doing well as a member of the Pirate court. Unfortunately, the position of king has been taken up by some wench, Elizabeth Swann. And after all my hard work trapping Calipso and bending her to our will so pirates can rule the seas, they forgot how to control her and instead let her loose! In the middle of a war! I know pirates aren't the best record keepers, but forgetting how to control the seas seems to be a bit of an unwise move if I may say so._

_Oh, and the Order of Fantasia is doing miserably in my and Tinkerbell's absence. I must remember to tell Tink that that ridiculous clown is back, she always seemed fond of Clopin and was most distraught when we lost him after the war._

_A good portion of the Order has fallen though. Odette and Springshine have both been reduced to helpless states. And Princess Gotll htch mk…_

The last sentence was scratched out , and Peter couldn't read the words through the ink.

**_The Winter of the Hook:_**

_As traditional methods of keeping track of time seem insufficient, I have taken to naming the seasons. They are irregular, as if something strange is effecting them. They change as easily as a woman changes her moods. And it becomes… easy to forget things. Things that may be important._

_We named this the winter of the Hook, as it is the time I came to live up to my name. Thanks to my son._

_Peter (lord I loathe that name) help defend the Indians against me. _

_And he chopped my hand off! He fed it to a crocodile and now the beast is following me! I've decided to feed it a clock so it's ticking would alert me to its prescience. Smee decided that this was the cleverest thing he'd heard of, until I reminded him of Australia, 1274. I really must research Neverland's memory altering abilities, but I digress._

_The fact of the matter is, Peter took off my hand. In cold blood._

Peter grinned, thinking he was about to read a really good stream of insults.

_I have never been so proud._

Peter did a double take.

_Against his own mother's wishes, Peter maimed me for life, and set me up for eternal torment at the hands of a beast! By jove, there's pirate in that boy yet!_

Peter had never felt more ashamed.

**_The Fall of Boredom:_**

_I've not seen hide nor hair of Peter since he cut off my hand._

**_The Spring of Cabin Fever:_**

_My men have Cabin fever! They've lost what sense they had! My men have Cabin fever, and they're all going mad!_

**_The Summer of Mermaids:_**

_I started a war with the Mermaids today. They stole our rum. We quickly called off the war. They can get quite nasty when drunk. _

_I don't know why I even included such an embarrassing entry, but I know why I'm writing in my log._

_Tinkerbell… I know you've been reading my Captain's Log. Why fight over this? Don't we love each other? Remember the good times we had in the Order of Fantasia? Remember Australia? We don't need to fight over our son, or over our previous beaus, or over the wars._

_I am the Pirate King. Would you love me I were anything less? Why would you deny the same fate to our son?_

Peter suddenly felt a tear drip down his cheek. He brushed it away. Boys don't cry, only girls cry.

**_The Summer Of War and Music:_**

_Hah! My son is back! And he's playing war again! A three-way war between him and his lost boys, us, and the Indians! Finally, the crew could see some action. I thought we were all going to go mad. _

_And better, my wife has returned to me! Oh Tinkerbell's back, and as we've reinacted our Honeymoon. Oh, bliss._

_I've also finished my musical number, Night on Bald Mountain. I think I shall play it tonight, in victory._

The next few entries frightened Peter even more than the previous ones.

**_The next day:_**

_Tink, Tock, Tink, Tock, look out fairy, look out croc,_

_Tink, Tock, Tink, Tock, look out fairy, look out croc._

_Tink, tock, Tink, tock, look out fairy, look out croc!_

_Tink tock, Tink tock, LOOK OUT FAIRY LOOK OUT CROC!_

**_The Springtime of Wendy:_**

_Peter's brought a girl here! And he calls her mother! Ha! She's jealous now. That fairy venom she's turned upon me has now set its sights upon Wendy. She's so jealous she actually trusts me! She doesn't think I'll have some trick up my sleeve!_

_First, I'll trap Tinkerbell._

_Then, I'll lower a bomb into Peter's little treehouse (they think I don't know where it is). _

_Then, Tinkerbell will escape. I didn't marry her for her inability to escape from a box after all!_

_Tink will rush to rescue our son, and will be blown up in the process! Then Neverland's strange magic will make him forget about Tinkerbell, and I will raise him to be a pirate!_

_Smee suggested just shooting Tinkerbell whilst in her cage. I worry about Smee. I do believe he has lost all sense of drama._

Peter had always wondered how Tinkerbell had survived that. He shuddered to think why Hook's plan didn't work.

**_The Tink Tock days:_**

_That wretched Fairy not only had the audacity to survive, but she stole my ship! She's probably read my Captain's Log, because when she got back she was worried. She said I was sounding more irrational than normal. _

_The Gall! I am as sane as ever!_

_I'm of half a mind to OFF WITH HER HEAD! OFF WITH HER HEAD! OFF WITH HER HEAD! THE RED QUEEN COMES!_

Peter's hands shook. Bobble gasped. "The man was going mad."

**_The Day Before Yesterday:_**

_The Crocodile hasn't bothered me for a week. Why? Because IT'S NOT INTERESTED ANY MORE!_

_My scouting party found it in a cave with fish bones strewn around him. I went there immediately and waved my rump in his face, and he didn't even go for a nibble. _

_IS THAT ANY WAY FOR AN ARCH-ENEMY TO BEHAVE!_

_… I shot him. I shot the crocodile. It waved the gun in front of his face first, and he didn't even move._

**_The Week My Moustache Turned Red And Started Singing But Nobody Noticed:_**

_Tinkerbell confronted me again today. She was worried still. Oh, sure. Now that she realizes she has my Captain's Log but I'm still writing in it she's concerned. Not worried when she stole my son, oh no._

_I've decided I need a break. We stole our boat back and flew to England._

_It's a mess. We're far further into the future than last time. _

_No more pirates. No more pirate courts. No more pirate kings._

_I found where Davy Jones' Kraken lay dead. It had a baby. The egg just hatched. I think I'll replace the crocodile with it. I need a new animal arch-enemy, or else Peter would notice something's wrong. Everything else is just depressing. _

**_The Day Wendy's DaUgHtEr BlEw A wHiStLe:_**

_I tried to kidnap Wendy today. It was part of my tremendously clever plan to kill Tinkerbell. _

_I gave her daughter a whistle to blow when she found the treasure I let Peter steal, and then hid right next to where I knew they were hiding it so they wouldn't escape. I... dropped the ball. A little. I may have accidentally not killed Tinkerbell. _

**_The day after I accidentally killed one of my crewmates with a spoon:_**

_I think I may be going mad._

_Today I read back in my journal and realized I couldn't remember the order of Fantasia._

_I did remember some of it. It came in the form of a song. Did I actually invent a song to tell me important stuff if I ever went insane? I remember investigating Neverland's memory altering effects… it would have been awfully clever if I were the one who had come up with this little shanty._

_Seven people hold the keys to the Magic Kingdom;_

_A Pirate, a Princess, an Inventor, a Wizard, a Hero, a Thief, and a Star._

_One of them would scowl and glower._

_Two of them lived in a tower._

_Three of them had magic power._

_Four of them from death would cower._

_Five of them saved the earth in an hour._

_Six of them had a magic flower._

_And each their enemies devour._

_And they will come together though time and space divide, _

_The Seven of the Order and a fairy too beside. _

_And the Shadow Man would follow, and the Oracle would guide._

_That's all I can remember._

_But I also remember… a princess? I think I used to love her, but I can't remember her name. She died. I scratched out her name in an earlier entry. I don't want to die like her. I don't want to die a madman. I want to go out in a blaze of glory, defending the world from evil just like in the old days._

_Everybody deserves a happy ending. Right?_

Peter didn't cry. Only girls cried. He just tucked his dad's diary into his dad's jacket.

"Hello!"

Peter looked up. "Who's there?" He asked.

Iridessa flew out of the dent in Skull Rock. "You're not going to believe this Peter." She said. "But there's a mouse out there. And he's flying."

"Flying?" Peter felt a faint glimmer of hope. "Well, I want to meet him."

* * *

Bobble and Clank were working hard. The other fairies were trying to fix Neverland, and they knew they should try too. But no matter how important it was, they just couldn't abandon Tinkerbell. Even though she was banished for loving a human, even though she was more rebellious than a fairy should be, they knew they had to help Tinkerbell's son.

* * *

Peter stood in the Captain's Cabin of the Jolly Roger. The part of it that was still afloat. He Idly pressed a few keys on the Piano. He held himself high like a pirate should. He had his nose in the air and his chin up, just like his father did.

He wore a special suit, made by Bobble and Clank. It was almost like his old one, the one his mom made for him. Except it was red instead of green. And he wore his dad's tattered jacket. Since it was cut off at the knees, it fit him perfectly.

"So, you're looking for the Order of Fantasia?" Peter asked.

"Y-yes." Mickey shuffled, unsure in his surroundings.

"Well, my dad was a member." He said. "And he left clues. I will help you, but only if you give me something in return." Normally he'd help him for free, but that seemed like the thing a pirate would say, so he said it.

"W-what do you want?" Mickey asked.

Peter looked out the window, into Neverland's skies. "I want to fly again." Then he reconsidered what a pirate would do. "Oh, and half of the treasure we find."

Mickey beamed hopefully and held out his hand. "Deal… uh…"

"Call me Jack." Peter said. "Captain Jack Hook."

They shook hands and got ready to leave. Peter picked a knife out of the dartboard. Its tip pierced straight through the head of the Queen of Hearts playing card. He pulled it out, and carved a note on it.

Never Forget.

It was about time he left Neverland again.


	5. Painting the World Red

A/N: I struggled long and hard over this chapter. Mostly because it involves letting Hitler join the ranks of the Disney Villains, complete with a full blown Disney Villain song.

I want to be clear on this. I will never know what it was like to fight in World War Two, and I hope I never do. I hope that this fanfic in no way diminishes the sacrifices of our ancestors who fought in the war, three of my great-grandfathers among them. They deserve our respect, and our undying gratitude. And part of the reason I wrote this fic is to honor the soldiers who died in the name of freedom and justice.

I almost used Scar as the main villain, because of the Hyenas doing the Nazi march in his villain song. But that would have been disrespectful to those who died. My portrayel of Hitler is simplyfied, and I hope none of you are offended by his presence in a Disney darkfic.

I may not know what it was like to live in World War Two, but I know what it was like to live through 9/11, and the post 9/11 scares. And some day, somebody will write a fiction containing Osama Bin Laden, just like I'm not the first (nor will I be the last) to write about Hitler, and just like others have written about Jack the Ripper, the Zodiac killer, many evil Roman emperors, and the like.

Now, with that said, I hope you enjoy the following. I do not own Disney, any more than I own the war. Some songs will be my own, but other songs will be dark reprises of classic Disney songs. Such as the following, a dark reprise of 'Do it with a flair' by Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

* * *

_A plan is nothing but a fragile statue just waiting to be shattered. To have a plan that works is to be able to use one of the shards to kill the man with the hammer._

* * *

Maleficent strode through the corridors with grace and steadiness. Lord Fisk strutted behind her and a little to the left, taking in the décor. "It's nice." He said. "A little drab perhaps. But I could see this as a decent place to rule the world."

Maleficent barely paid attention to his patter. He'd served his purpose in betraying Merlin. She instead calmly walked into the meeting room. There were currently only two people there; a strong looking, if somewhat small man, in a red laboratory coat and wearing a black helmet. Sitting next to him was a young girl with red hair. She was constantly smiling, but it wasn't a warm or sincere smile.

"Dr. Libsky. Anna." Maleficent greeted the pair cordially.

Anna's smile grew mischievously, but Libsky scowled. "It's Dementor Maleficent. Dr. Dementor. I told you this."

"What you haven't told me, is why you're wearing that ridiculous helmet." Maleficent sniffed contemptuously.

Dementor's scowl deepened. "My assistant keeps trying to take a peek in my mind."

Lord Fisk was about to sit next to Anna. He stopped, as she smiled endearingly at him, and quickly sat on Dementor's other side.

Maleficent sat on her own throne, the one decorated with skulls. Libsky was the Nazi scientific advisor. And while Maleficent was usually calm and composed, she often felt like ribbing him. He really was a sad little man, but his assistant wasn't bad. Anna had ambition, and the ruthlessness it took to genuinely rule the world, if only she had chosen magic over science.

"You should know Libsky, that your plan failed."

He raised an eyebrow. "Which one? What did you do?"

"Oh, so hasty to believe I am at fault?" Maleficent asked in mock hurtfulness. "I did not interfere one whit. He disgusts me as much as he does you. But in the future, could your plans for his death not involve me having to go to Africa to pick him up if he survives?"

Libsky's eyes went wide and his lower lip quivered. And then the door to the room burst open. "Dementor!" Dr. XXX laughed. "Good to see you!"

Dr. XXX unwrapped his arm from General Pete. "Congratulations! I had my doubts, but your teleporter device worked perfectly! Why, you even foresaw that if I were to use it, than I must be in grave peril, and you disposed me in a place with several spare parts!"

Dr. XXX flexed his arm. It was cut off below the shoulder, and had been replaced with the arm of a silverback gorilla. Dementor mentally crossed all plans involving wild animals off of his list of deaths planned for Dr. XXX.

Dr. XXX was the other head scientist of the Nazi movement. But the real reason he was on the high consulate was because he was a magnificent torturer. He was a monster, without any remorse or any sense of where his limits lay. Like Anna, he had killed his entire family. But in Anna's case that was five people. In his case, it was his entire ancestral family tree and their pets, and he reanimated the skeletons to do his bidding afterwards.

General Peter, the head of the gestapo, was in Maleficent's eyes, even more horrible. He was a fat slob, full of greed and petty thoughts. Dr. XXX was a monster, but he at least had a certain flair to him. Pete didn't care about flair; he did what he was told and that was it. And he did it in the most repulsive manner, in such a way that everybody knew he was evil. One of these days she would turn him into a cat. At least it would make that leer permanently affixed to his face less prominent.

Pete slouched down in his chair. "What's he doing here?" He at Fisk.

"He's a British defector." Dementor said. "He is a magician and an explorer."

Pete scoffed. "So we got another Bibbity Bobbity Boohoo on the team?"

Lord Fisk bristled, and was about to retaliate, when the door opened again.

A chill fell over the room.

"Hello everybody!" The cheerful blonde girl in a bright blue dress said. "How do you do?"

Alice smiled brightly and walked over to her seat. Lord fisk realized what she was immediately, and fell out of his seat. Maleficent retained her composure through years of practice. Dementor and Anna squirmed, although the smile never left Anna's face. Pete dismissed her, as he did all of the rumors about her. Dr. XXX eyed her warily.

Alice was a messenger from hell.

Maleficent had dealt with hell before. She even drew some of her powers there. So she knew what she was talking about when she said that Alice was one of the most frightening beings she'd ever met.

Alice was a devil. Not just a demon; demons were beings that served devils, people who live spectacularly evil lives and were plucked out of Tartarus simply because a Devil had taken a fancy to them. Devils were beings of various power, who were the unholy offspring of a supernatural being, like a fairy or a nymph or a gargoyle, with a human being. If the following abomination was evil it would turn into a devil when it died.

Of course, if it was good, then it would become a star. But Alice had taken the more common path. Alice was a devil. She died after inflicting an unspeakable terror onto her tutor, only because she was boring her.

And now, Alice came as a representative of all of hell. To ensure that this war would be won, and that humanity would have their souls given to them as a feast.

"I presume you're all having a pleasant day?" She asked sweetly.

"Oh yes." Anna nodded. "Dr. Dementor even let me dissect an Owl's brain."

"Was it an owl from the Hundred Acre Woods?"

Anna giggled.

"I'm happy for you." Alice said with a smile. "We've been trying to get rid of him for ages." She turned her mad gaze to the other members of the counsel. "Mr. Adolf will be here shortly, he's just talking to General Scar…"

The doors opened.

While Alice was the most frightening being Maleficent knew, the man who walked through the doorway was by far the most evil.

He strutted into the room, followed by a lean tanned man with a sharp goatee and a scar across his face. He sat at the head of the table, opposite to Maleficent, with Pete on one side and Scar on the other. All present at the table save Alice raised their hands. "Heil Hitler." They intoned.

He smiled. He was in full awareness that he was the most powerful person in the room, and they knew he would punish them for the slightest offence. "Who wants to report first?"

Maleficent stood. "Merlin is dead." She said. "Although, we have discovered a complication." She gestured to Lord Fisk to continue. Let him bear the bad news.

He stood. "The prophecy that caused you distress said that Merlin and King Arthur would arise in Britain's darkest hour. However, we have discovered a loophole, and we believe that Merlin has discovered it as well."

"The reference to Merlin and King Arthur may be a reference to a powerful sorcerer guiding a king. We have found traces of, not only Merlinian magic, but Rodentae magic. There is a possibility Merlin was training a new wizard to seek out a new King Arthur."

Hitler frowned, but gestured him to sit down. "Very well. Your new mission is to find this Merlin's apprentice… this, Mouse… and kill him. Either your head or his had better be on my desk within the month."

Fisk's eyes widened, but managed to retain enough composure to bow and sit back down. Maleficent was glad she hadn't born the bad news. Hitler gestured to Dr. XXX.

The lean man stood. "We bombed Neverland to Oblivian." He said with a proud smile. "The pirate put up more of a fight than Maleficant expected, and the flying boy we've had reports of managed to bring down our bombers. If the flower Maleficant seeks is there, then it is burnt to a crisp. But Captain Rolf and his crew were killed. If want me to destroy something else, next time I want more of an overkill leash."

Hitler nodded. "Granted, if I ever think you're worthy of sending to the field again. And your other task?"

He smiled. "The Coachman and I are shipping our… new labor to Kinkow Island. Everything's going according to plan."

"That is your new priority." Hitler said.

It was Dementor's turn. "I have constructed many of the devices you have requested. With a few small changes here and there to make them feasible. We have enough forces now to Blitzkrieg Maldonia."

"Enough isn't as good as overkill." Dr. XXX mumbled.

Maleficent ignored him. "When Maldonia's borders fall, I will be able to seize their flower."

Hitler nodded. "Take what you need. Go to Maldonia with Scar and Peter and get it done."

And then he hesitated.

Alice took it as her cue to give her report. "Hell is waiting in the wings Mr. Adolf." She said.

"Everything is going according to plan then?"

She just giggled. "A plan is nothing but a fragile statue just waiting to be shattered. To have a plan that works is to be able to use one of the shards to kill the man with the ammer."

"Very well." He nodded, trying to look thoughtful although the slightly unnerved look never left his face. "All dismissed save Scar and Peter. I need you two to help me make a little speach."

Scar grimaced. He loathed being a back-up singer.

* * *

Hitler emerged through the grand front door and into the square. Troops were lined up in front of the podium, and the crowd cheered as their leader waved his hand.

Scar saw a group of singers disperse. Fortunate timing. Usually, when somebody broke into a musical, everybody else became background singers. But on the rare occasion, to people will break out into a musical at the same time. It could turn into one great musical, with both sides complementing the other. But it could also turn into a musical battle, and they didn't want to chance that.

Hitler stepped up to his podium, and raised his hands to quiet the crowd. Everybody went quiet, and in response all of the soldiers in the square raised their hands in salute.

Scar smiled. He could feel it beginning. He didn't care much for musicals. They happened almost every day under the right circumstances, and quite frankly he was bored with them. The feeling of music swelling in his chest and his toes limbering up was nothing new. But he admired Hitler for his magnificence in using music to manipulate the crowds.

Somewhere, music came, and Hitler began to sing to his people.

_Oh, when I was young I thought myself an artist,_

_I carried myself without a single care._

_But when I tried to carry on my skills to school,_

_My professors said I lacked a certain flair._

_Forced to fend for myself, I realized, that the men that I idealized_

_All knew the lesson I had yet to learn;_

_That it really doesn't matter, what in life I daaaaaaare!_

_As long… as I do it with a flair!_

Red banners with swastikas dropped down and draped themselves across the square. The troops marched in unison, casting long shadows on against the wall. As the troops past them and saluted them, Hitler began to dance on the podium, Scar and Pete dancing in synchronization behind him.

_Oh! It doesn't really matter, what I do, what I do,_

_As long as I do it with a flair!_

_With a thousand men at my command, tanks all rolling through the land,_

_The smell of sulfur burning in the air!_

_I'm a Tyrant, a murderer, a despot and a fiend,_

_Yet they love me, everywhere!_

_For it doesn't really matter, what I do, what I do!_

_Because I always do it with a flair!_

_Oh it doesn't really matter what I do, what I do,_

_Because I tend to do it with a flair!_

_First I start a war with everyone, arrest some Jews and when I'm done,_

_The sound of their screaming fills the air!_

_My Gestapo is weeding out the traitors in my midst,_

_And my armies goosestep to my song!_

_But it doesn't really matter what I do, what I do!_

_Because you'll never really see me in the wrong!_

_Oh it really doesn't matter what I say, what I say;_

_You all know what I am either way!_

_I've sent your families to war, will they return? I'm not sure!_

_But they could die for me on any day!_

_For because of my grand showmanship, A few sly words, a clever quip,_

_And you'll do whatever I say!_

_I'm a two-faced fiend, I've got devils in the wings,_

_And I'm driving the world into despair!_

_But it doesn't really matter what I do, what I do…_

_Becaaaaauuuse! I do it with a –"_

A tomato splatted against Hitler's face.

Scar winced. It was never pleasant when a musical was interrupted. Everybody in perfect sinchroninity, suddenly flailing as the music was cut off. He quickly glanced at the crowd, his predator's instincts on high alert. He nudged Hitler and pointed to a little girl in the front of the crowd.

Every once in a while, there would be someone who didn't have a single musical bone in their bodies.

"You're a bad man!" She yelled.

Pete and Scare exchanged glances. Pete was grinning. She had just thrown a tomato at the most powerful man in the country. Scar was a little less eager to see her punishment, but he resigned himself.

He smoothly walked forward. The girl's mother hugged her close. "Please… she's just a child, she didn't mean anything…"

"Oh, think nothing of it." Hitler smiled. He wiped the tomatoe off of his face. And reached into his pocket. He pulled out a quarter. "Here." He said. "I'm sorry for the tomatoe. Buy another one." He signaled that this would be all for the day, and the three of them walked back into their headquarters.

Then the other shoe dropped.

As the door closed behind him, Hitler pulled Pete close. "I want that girl's parents murdered in front of her." He snarled. "Then you get her for a week. Do whatever you have to – use your dumkoff ninjas if you must, I want her broken! Then, after the week, give her to Dr. XXX."

Pete saluted, looking pleased at the thought of what he was about to do.

Hitler retreated into his private quarters. It was lavishly decorated. A map of the world decorated one wall, and at the window was a fresh canvas with cans of paint by the sides. He held his hand up and stared at it. He imagined the red tomato juice was blood, and he smeared it his hand print over Europe. He began to sing again, sadly.

_If there's one consistent trait I've found among the human race,_

_It's their unceasing ability to complain._

_And it really doesn't matter what I do, what I do…_

_They tell me that I'm nothing but a pain._

_I take life and death, war and suffering, and I turn them into works of art._

_But do I ever get a thank you? No…_

His eyes hardened, his fists clenched. He picked up the bucket of red paint and tossed it onto the map, picking up his singing with a gusto.

_And it really doesn't matter what I do, what I do!_

_I could barbeque some gypsies, and serve up their char-broiled kidneys!_

_I could burn London to the ground, until it's just a smoking mound!_

_And all that will remain will be, the ones who look and act like me!_

_There's really nothing to it, Because no one will see through it!_

_And they'll love me always through it,_

_And if they don't love meeeeeeee… than they'll fear meeeeeeee…_

_And they'll fear! Me! Because! I! Do! It! With! A!_

_Flaaaaaair!_


	6. The Horseman of War

A/N: I do not own Disney, nor any of its characters.

I'm reliefed at the positive reception of the last chapter. I thought maybe I'd crossed a line putting Hitler in this fic. Either my explanation why was pretty good, or this story has yet to pick up the notoriety needed for somebody to started a screaming match in its reviews.

Now, I think I'll start a little tradition and explain a little bit about the characters in the Authors Notes before each chapter. I'll start with the Headless Horseman. The Headless Horseman is a Devil, that is to say he was the product of a human and a magical being that lived a wicked life, in this case a gargoyle. Now, Gargoyles breed the most potent of Devils. Wether this is because they simply have more strength, or because the Scottland Gargoyle Decimation ensured that any devils with gargoyle heritages must have lived a long life, nobody knows.

Now, in this fic I take my inspiration of Stars and Devils from Doctor Who. They have freakish concepts, like not moving when somebody is looking, or being unable to remember them when you're not looking at them. The Horseman likes to replace his empty head slot, with the heads of his victims. He keeps them there until they rot, or he gets a new one. But even when they're skeletal he can control them.

Now, the Horseman is the royal executioner of the Red Queen. But like any devil, he is subject to the whims of those who summon him into the world. A particularly grievious example is the Sleepy Hollow Decimation. When a new teacher came to Sleepy Hollow, a jealous sociopath named Brom Bones summoned his skills in the black arts to have the Horseman kill Mr. Crane. After a successful run, he used his newfound power to murder the sheriff and the mayor, seizing control of the town and forcing the most beautiful girl to marry him by threatening to kill her parents. During his reign he would do whatever he want, in and out of wedlock, and nobody could stop him. Until the day when his abused wife had their first child. He summoned the horseman to execute her, but the mother decided she would rather die than see her baby girl's head on that monster, and so she chopped the head of her daughter off herself and threw it in the lake.

The Horseman, who was avowed to never leave this plane without collecting a head, took the bullying mayor's head, and left. He was not seen again, at least not until WWII. Basically, he is the magical equivalent of the Terminator, except her mocks his enemies by wearing their friend's heads. Oh, and the thing about him not being able to cross bridges over running water? Myth. Who told you that? Brom? And you believed him?

* * *

_20 ft. Must Be This Tall To Save The World._

* * *

Mickey felt so small and insignificant. Like a fragile butterfly, flying along through the air. Surrounded on all sides by a mass of big, black bats.

He gripped his broomstick like his life depended on it, as the wild raving boy behind him flew it through the air.

The three of them emerged through the kaleidoscopic tunnel and back over England. "Woohoo!" Jack yelled. "London!"

"Don't hit Big Ben!" Mickey screamed, pulling the broom up at the last minute.

"Hey, I'm doing the flying." Jack said. "We have a deal. Relax, know how to fly better than I know how to run." He then seemed to realize he'd just critisized himself. "But I know how to run too. Really, really well."

The broomstick crashed through a window. The occupants of the house shrieked. "It's a flying rat!" The two of them emerged on the other side of the house, covered in glass, with a ham and cheese sandwich balancing on Mickey's nose.

"Food!" Jack snatched up the sandwich. "I'm starving!"

"Maybe you should steer away from the city!" Iridessa yelled over the wind. The fairy had opted to follow the two of them. Mickey didn't know what ties she had to Jack, but they must be big if she was willing to follow this lunatic around.

"Alright." Jack turned the broomstick away and they flew north.

Mickey felt like he was in a nightmare. He couldn't believe he let Jack fly his broom after he found out that his dad had gone insane. So, there were seven people in the Order of Fantasia. Maleficent had killed Merlin, and Jack's dad was dead, so that was the Pirate and the Wizard. They needed to find a Star, a Princess, a Warrior, and Inventor, and a Witch. But there were so many of them!

Mickey's first thought after reading the journal was that they should go to the Pirate Court and see if Hook had any Captain's Logs from his time in the Order. But if the Pirates forgot how to control the seas, then why would they keep a Captain's logs?

Mickey held his hat down as they entered a particularly strong gust of turbulence. After that, well… Merlin had told him about Stars. Half-magic beings that lived a good life and became extremely powerful when they died. They made it their mission to oppose Devils. But Mickey had only met one Star, and he didn't know where to find her. Even if she was the right one, they couldn't search every star in the sky for her.

So Princesses seemed like the best bet. People kept records of princesses, and they tended to stay close to towers. Two of them lived in a tower; the first was Merlin, and the second would have to be the princess. It seemed like the best place to start.

Suddenly, Jack tugged at his robes. "What's this?"

Mickey looked where he was pointing. A pod of whales were soaring by alongside them. "Those are sky whales." Mickey said. "They're migrating North."

"Sky whales?"

"They're really rare. They've been hunted so much, they're almost extinct. Like dragons." A thought occured to Mickey. "How much of this world do you know about Jack?"

"I've been everywhere." Jack said proudly. "I've been all around London, I've swashbuckled in the Caribbean, and I've seen the great pyramids of Paris!"

"Uh…" Mickey was about to correct him but thought better of it. After all, like his former nanny used to say…

"If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. And raise your dorsal fin. There you go. Form is everything you know, you can't migrate with bad posture like that."

Mickey couldn't believe he was hearing that voice. Just when he needed her. "Ms. Poppins!" He called. "Mary Poppins!"

The woman gliding alongside the whales under her umbrella looked up. Her face didn't show a hint of surprise. "Keep your fins up, or you'll never make it." She told the young whale next to her, before gliding up to Mickey and Jack.

"Hey why does she get to fly?" Jack asked sourly.

"Well, Michael Banks." Mary Poppins addressed Mickey, ignoring Jack entirely. "What on earth are you doing on a broomstick with such company? And do your parents know you've been turned into a mouse?"

"Mum and Dad are dead." Mickey said.

This only gave her a brief pause. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that." She said. "But the fact remains that you are a mouse and you are sitting on a broomstick with… Peter Pan is it? I think I recognize you, although the clothes are new."

Jack bristled. "My name's not Peter Pan!" He yelled. "My name is Captain Jack Hook!"

"Captain of what?" Mary Poppins asked, almost smiling. She reached into her purse. "Would you two keep the broom steady for a moment, I want to take your measurements."

Peter inched away, but she held up her tape. "So, admiring the flight of the whales are we?"

"Er, yes." Mickey said. "Actually, we're looking for the Order of Fantasia."

"Are you now?" Mary Poppins finished measuring him and read the tape. "Sometimes too scared, sometimes too clever. Not-quite-a-hero-yet."

"Hero?" Mickey looked at the tape. "I never said I wanted to be a hero."

"Yes, well, that's what happens when you go on a quest." Mary Poppins sighed. "You turn out to be a hero, wether you set out to be one or not." She turned to Jack. "Your turn."

Jack held himself stiff as a board as Mary Poppins measured him. "So, do you know anything about the Order of Fantaisa?"

"Hmmm…" Mary Poppins considered. "They do come up in conversation once or twice during my dinners with Madame Odette. But you're too old now for me to be telling you bed time stories Micheal." She pulled the tape away. "Peter Pan, The-Boy-Who-Will-Never-Grow-Up."

"I will too." Peter yelled. "I have grown up! I'm a pirate."

Mary Poppins continued reading. "Only-A-Pirate-In-His-Mind."

"What?" Peter grabbed the tape and read for himself. "Brash, unthinking, will-probably-be-a-Devil-if-he-doesn't-change?"

Mickey winced. He knew Jack would be either a star or a devil when he died since he was the son of a fairy. But he had hoped it would be the former.

"I'll have my tape back now thank you." The tape leaped back into Mary Poppin's hand. "So, Michael, how is Jane?"

Mickey frowned. "Look, I don't want to talk about Jane. I want to know where to find the Order of Fantasia."

Mary stared at him for a while and turned away. "Well, I can't help you with that."

"Wait!" Peter yelled. "Why can't you help us?"

"Please." Iridessa said. "You have to help us."

Mary Poppin's tape stretched. "Anxious, but loyal." She said, measuring the fairy. "Of course I'll help you."

"But you just said you couldn't." Peter said.

"I said I couldn't help you find the Order of Fantasia." Mary said. "Honestly, if you must have a conversation with somebody, do pay attention."

She reached back into her purse, putting away her tape and taking out a tiny handkerchief for Iridessa to wipe her eyes on. "Your wind is painting a very clear picture of Maldonia. It's a kingdom not far from her, just a couple hundred miles or so South East East. I think it would be smart of you to let the winds guide you, since you have no idea where you want to go."

She took the handkerchief back. "I shall send a conscious to Peter, he needs one and I'm far too busy."

"What's a conscious?" Peter asked.

"What did your tape mean about me being a hero?" Mickey asked.

Mary took out her tape again. It unrolled itself for a while, before she brought it to a stop and showed it to him.

20 ft. Must Be This Tall To Save The World.

"Well, I must be off." Her tape rolled itself up. "I've spent too much time talking to you as it is."

"Wait!" Peter yelled. "You didn't answer my question! Or Mickey's question! Or anything!"

Mary Poppins turned around. "I should like to make one thing very clear." Mary Poppins said.

"Yes?" Peter asked.

She smiled. "I never explain anything." She turned around and went back to the whales. "Jaret, what have I told you about leading with your blowhole young man? Get back into formation Cindy. Dorsal fins up Rupert. Come now children, I'd like for you to finish migration before my bruncheon with Ms. Evangeline tomorrow."

The three of them watched her leave with the whales. "So… what now?" Peter asked.

"I guess we have to go to Maldonia." Mickey said. Although he felt reluctant.

Peter scratched his head and looked around. "Where is Maldonia anyhow?"

"Oh, it's that way…" Mickey froze, realizing his mistake just as he finished pointing. Peter swung the broom around on the spot, and charged forward with a gleeful "Yahooo!"

* * *

The border of Maldonia were about to be overrun.

Nazi troops swelled over from the neighboring country of Rodigan. Rodigan had always been good friends with Canada, due to its reserves of gold. So Canada had lent Rodigan some aid. They were all but helpless before the incoming troops.

Captain Griswald was at the forefront of the Canadian line. He was the quickest draw in the army, so fast in fact that they called him El Diablo, the demon of the 27th infantry unit. He learned to shoot from his father, who'd fought in the first great war. But his brothers-in-arms weren't so lucky.

He made a fighting retreat across the moor, gunning down the Nazi troops following him. "Where are those reinforcements!" Griswald yelled into the radio as his comrades fell around him.

"Reinforcements are a negative." The reply came. "We're covering too much ground as it is."

"Then I need to order a retreat."

"You can't do that Captain."

"Sir, with respect, this is suicide!"

"Your mission is of critical importance! You are ordered to hold your ground!"

"We can't hold it!" Griswald yelled, placing a bullet square between another soldier's eyes. "I don't even know what this oh so critical mission is, but I'm telling you, we'll be overrun in less than ten minutes! We might not even survive one minute!"

"Just keep it together soldier. Rally the troops and hold out as long as you can. Good luck."

Rally the troops? Good luck? He wanted to court marshall whoever was on the other end. Suddenly, he heard the faint click that meant his guns were out of ammunition. He ducked behind a rock as bullets began to pelt and chip it.

"All men! We are ordered to hold ground, do you copy!" He couldn't hear anything over the whistling of gunfire. "Is there anybody out there!"

He panicked for a moment. Nobody was picking up the radio. He was all alone in enemy territory. They were closing in. They'd shoot him dead. He just wanted to be a hero, he wasn't supposed to die like this. He curled up and began to cry a litte.

Suddenly he felt something licking at him. He looked up and saw some sort of golden fox.

He blinked.

Foxes weren't supposed to be gold.

Suddenly, a voice came in over the radio. "Hello, is anybody there?"

Griswald picked it up eagerly. "Yes! This is Captain Steve Griswald of the 27th infantry unit!"

"Don't worry Sir. Christopher Robin's come out to play. When I say now, run for cover behind the rock to your left."

Steve's hands shook. "What?"

"Now!"

He ran. There were five soldiers pointing their guns at him. He knew he was going to die.

*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Six shots ran out. Four of them struck the Nazis pointing their guns at him. Two of them hit Nazis he hadn't even seen. The fifth Nazi looked frightened and bewildered, and paused long enough for the golden fox to tear into him.

Steve dove behind the rock.

"Are you alright?" the voice over the radio asked.

"I'm okay." He gasped. "Thank you Christopher."

"Call me Robin sir. Private Christopher Robin of the 28th."

"Well thanks Robin. Do you have me covered?"

"Yes sir. Ready when you are."

Griswald ran again. He picked out where he thought Christopher Robin might be, and ran toward the rock next to it. Sure enough, a gun barrel poked out from behind the rock and began to shoot behind him. He didn't know whether the bullets were connecting or not, or whether he'd feel the heat of lead going through his heart at any moment. He just ran.

He dove behind the rock just as machine-gun fire ripped past him. Robin quickly took the gunner out with a headshot.

Steve could immediately tell that Robin was under age. It was sad the amount of under age kids they let through. "Where did you learn to shoot like that?" He asked.

"My dad taught me." Robin said. "I can pop a Woozle's eyes out at fifty acres."

Steve decided it would be better not to ask what a Woozle was. "I'm out of ammo Private."

"I only have one round left myself."

"We've been ordered to hold our ground."

"That sounds like a good plan."

"What? It's suicide."

The golden fox ran up to Private Robin and he scratched his ears. "We don't need to hold out long, just long enough to complete the mission. Look."

Steve followed the barrel of Robin's gun, and saw a man down below running through the moors. He scrambled away from the advancing enemie like a man possesed, clutching his son close to him. A man by his side was blasting away at Nazis trying to attack them. Steve recognized him.

"That's the King of Rodigan." He said.

"That's right." Robin said. "I've been sent here to collect him. You'd better stay here, I'm going in."

"Not without me." Steve said. Suicide was holding out against all odds. A simple retrieve and rescue he could do.

"I thought you were out of ammo."

Steve grinned. "The boys call me El Diablo. I'm the fastest draw around, and I see plenty of ammo down there."

The two of them began their charge down the hill. El Diablo dove forward, ducking underneath machine-gun fire and snatching a pair of pistols away from the enemy corpses. He weaved through the field felling the enemy left and right, narrowly avoiding fire himself.

Robin was less agile, but more accurate. He strode through the field calmly, holding his rifle at a full ninety degree angle. His eyes took in the field, every inch of it, and he picked out exactly who was pointing their guns at him. His gun swiveled and he dropped the enemy gunmen with a bang. Every shot, right between the eyes.

Below them, the King hugged his son close. "Just a little further Wallace." He said.

Suddenly, their butler cried out. The King turned and tried to lift Lumiere off the ground as he clutched at his leg.

"No your majesty!" He cried. "Go!"

"Lumiere!" The young prince cried.

"My family has served yours for generations." The man said, pulling himself onto his good leg. "I would be honored to save you with my last breath. Now go!"

The King made a wild dash as his last faithful servant stood his ground.

Robin and Steve met him halfway up the hill. "Sir!" Robin saluted quickly. "Your carriage and driver are just past the Maldonian border."

"You have my eternal thanks." The King said. "If you two survive this you're both in for knighthoods, and I know you've done more than enough… but would you please save Lumiere."

The two soldiers exchanged glances. "We'll try." Steve said. "Now go your majesty."

As the King hurried up the hill, making no effort to preserve his dignity and every effort to preserve his son, a cute little girl with blonde hair watched. "How cute." She said. "Do you know, that big soldier calls himself El Diablo? It's so terribly cute, I think I'd like to keep him." She sighed. "But first thing's first. Off with the King's head."

A large suit of black armor stood next to the girl, blood red cape swirling in the wind. "As you wish Miss Alice."

Robin and Steve reached Lumiere. "The King and the Prince are safe." Robin said, as El Diablo covered for them. "Let's get you out of here."

Suddenly, a plume of fire erupted in the distance. As they watched, a giant black top lined with razor wire came of the hilltop. "Spinning tops of Doom." Lumiere muttered. "Are forces were decimated by them."

Several more tops spun over the hilltops towards them. With a dark whinny, a horse charged over the hill with a heavily armored horseman on its back.

"You go." He said. "Protect him. I'll hold these off as long as I can."

Robin was aghast. "You won't make it. You'll die."

"Maybe." Lumiere said. "But I'll make the end memorable."

"I'm not leavin' –" suddenly, Robin got knocked unconscious.

Steve was ashamed. Robin was a brave soldier, while he was only good at killing things. He wasn't brave enough to face down whatever was coming down on them on horseback. "We'll be sure to protect the King." He told Lumiere.

"That is all I ask." Lumiere said.

El Diablo hefted Robin onto his soldier and ran like the devil was at his back. The golden fox followed him, disapproval showing clearly in its eyes.

Lumiere reloaded his rifle shifted himself to standing. The black nightmarish horse raced past him, and he put a bullet right between the ribs.

The horse tumbled over and fell. Lumiere staggered over as the rider stood up. The armored figure slowly turned around.

"You want more?" Lumiere asked. "BE MY GUEST!" The headless horseman advanced as Lumiere emptied the contents of his gun into him. He drew his sword and cut across with one grand swipe.

When El Diablo looked back, the Horseman was following him. Lumiere's bleeding head was mounted on his shoulders. The horsemen grinned using Lumiere's lips, and Steve Griswald, the toughest of the tough, didn't need any more incentive then that to double his speed.


	7. Dreams of Soldiers

A/N: That's right! In this chapter I'm introducing the concept of Muppets. Didn't see that one did you? I bet you all thought that I was all talk. No, this is the universe where every single Disney Movie has taken place, including Muppets! More explanation of where they come from later.

Why does nobody else try this? I highly reccommend it, it's invigorating. Somebody could combine every movie Fox has ever made; X-men, plus Independance Day, plus Alvin and the Chipmunks, etc. Or every movie universal Studios has ever made, placing The Mummy and Beethoven in the same universe as Jurrasic Park, Land Before Time, Balto, and Dragonheart!

Or better, Warner Bros. Looney Tunes, Quest for Camelot, Harry Potter, three different Batmen, (assuming Keaton through Clooney is a single franchise)! Dear readers, if any of you know of another story like this that combines all movies of a single company, please inform me!

I do not own Disney. This chapter is dedicated to all the people who fought on the other side of the war, not because they were evil, or rascist, or crazy, but because they had families to protect.

* * *

_Very poor choice of words._

* * *

The Maldonian Palace was in the middle of it's main city, on an island in the middle of a bay opening out onto the Mediterranean. It was a stretch of land between Italy and spain, conquered long ago by the youngest daughter of the King of Italy with the help of King Arthur. It became a true country in its own right after the Black Plague devastated Europe, but Maldonia was spared because of its cleanliness laws.

The King of Maldonia was in a state of shock. He was not royalty. He had married into his position. It was his wife who had been trained since birth to handle these things and was taking it in stride.

The representatives from Genovia and Rodigan were present. "And you're sure they wanted you dead?" The young Viscount Mabrey asked.

"Yes." King Wallace the Second said. "I'm very sure. I tried to barter for my people's safety with terms of surrender. Their terms were my death, and the death of my family." He looked forlornly at his son, who was playing with his soldiers across the room.

"What of Genovia?" Maldonia's queen asked. "Is the Queen safe?"

Count Mabrey shook his head. "She stayed behind to safeguard Genovia. Princess Clarisse is being protected by the Princess Protection Program. She tried to negotiate too. The terms were clear."

"We've received information." King Wallace said. "They want us all dead. The rulers of the Royal Belt.

The Queen sighed. The Royal Belt was the nickname for the three kingdoms that formed a belt around Spain. Just as Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and England were the United Kingdoms, so were the rulers of Genovia, Maldonia, and Rodigan.

"So surrender is not an option." The King said darkly.

"Do we have any allies we can call upon?" Prince Navine asked.

"No." Count Mabrey said. "Canada has maintained its loyalty, but Maldonia will surely be overrun before their next complement of troops arrive. There are mercenaries of course, but none of them will recognize our plight."

Navine kept quiet at this. He knew there was one organization that would come to their aid. But their reputation for being… unorthodox led them to being banished. They were wanted fugitives in eleven countries.

"Your Majesty." King Wallace said. "I suggest that we run. Your family and what remains of mine. If we can make it to Switzerland, then we're safe."

"And what of our Maldonia?" The Queen asked.

"It will fall wether you are here or not." Count Mabrey said. "With respect Milady, King Wallace is right. Maldonia's only chance is for you to be elsewhere."

"But Northern Maldonia is already overrun." The King said. "We couldn't reach Switzerland if we tried.

Navine abandoned the talks. He didn't want to go to Switzerland. He wanted to go back home to his wife and daughter. He moved to the other side of the room with Rodigan's prince. "Hello." He said to the boy.

He didn't look up from playing with his toy soldiers.

Navine looked him in the eyes. "Are you alright?"

"I miss my mom." The Prince said.

Navine didn't know what to say to that.

The Prince held up one of his tin soldier. "This one's the bravest." He said. "He's in love with the ballerina, and even though he lost his leg in a big war, he never leaves her."

Navine patted his head and left the room. He sighed, and motioned to the first servant he saw. "Send a telegraph out to the O.W.A.C.A."

* * *

Old Man Zurbriggen knew something was up. The horses in his barn were stamping their feet and neighing with fear. He wasn't a brave man, and he knew it. But not even a Nazi could mess with his prize horses.

He raised his gun. "Don't you move!"

The stranger ignored him. He was a tall man, in a black suit of armor and a red cape. "I like your horses." He said.

"You touch them, and I'll blast your head off!"

The stranger turned around angrily. Zurbriggen gasped as he saw the flies buzzing around the stranger's rotting head. A black armored glove grabbed the head by its hair and tossed it away, leaving Zurbriggen to stare down the hole where his neck should have been.

"Very poor choice of words."

The Horseman left the barn with a new head and a new horse.

* * *

Christopher Robin shifted.

"Don't move." He heard Captain Griswald mutter.

He suddenly realized that his hands and legs were tied to the chair he was sitting in. "What happened?" Robin asked.

"We got captured." Steve said. "I'm sorry. You went out first, and I tried to get you back somewhere safe, but those blasted spinning tops blocked off the retreat."

"Where's Lumiere? Where's Trouble?"

"Lumiere… didn't make it. Who's Trouble?"

"My fox."

"Oh, him. He didn't get caught. I'm sure he's somewhere slinking around. Much good it does us."

"Hey, look, they're awake!" Robin looked up.

They were in the ruins of a church on top of a hill. There was a full complement of Nazi soldiers surrounding them, holding guns at the ready. They were a frightening bunch. One of them had mime make-up on, and another was covered with rats. The one who had noticed Robin was awake was a muppet with a cigarette in his mouth. Robin wondered why Hitler spared the Muppets in his genocidal reign? Not that it mattered, he had bigger problems.

"Well, well, well." A large Nazi with a hooked hand stepped up to them. "Looks like we got two prisoners of war, eh?"

"Hello." Robin said, as Steve remained stoically silent.

"Now, I've got some questions for you, and you're going to answer." The hooked man said. "Where are the rest of your troops in Maldonia posted?"

"I don't know." Robin said. "I was just defending the border."

"We'll see." The man with the hook said. "How about a little bit of torture first?"

"I don't think you will." Robin said.

The Nazi looked confused. "What do you mean you don't think I will?"

"It takes a special kind of person to torture somebody." Robin said. "And I don't think you're the type." He looked around. "You know, most people think Nazis are all psychos and murderers. But you all have your reasons for being here don't you? You all have families to protect? Dreams you want to live?"

_What are you doing!_ Steve mentally berated Robin for not following the standard procedure for being interrogated.

And then he felt it. The limbering up of his toes and the swelling in his heart. A musical was starting up.

"I… had a dream once." The hook handed Nazi said. One of the muppets began to strum his guitar.

_Ever since I signed up for this war,_

_I don't hold back my rage no more,_

_But I wasn't always angry to be honest._

_You see, I used to have a hand to spare,_

_And People knew me everywhere,_

_As the Motherland's finest concert pianist!_

_Can't you see me on the stage performing Mozart?_

_Tickling the ivories 'til they bled!_

_Oh if only I still had my hand,_

_I'd be back in the motherland,_

_But I'm killing Allies over here instead._

Griswald worked to free his legs as the other Nazis joined in for the chorus.

_He had a dream!_

_He had a dream!_

_But it's been replaced by the Nazi regime!_

_No I don't like killing but it's true,_

_I've got nothing better to do,_

_Among this war's death toll _

_I'll count my dream!_

A muppet moved up to center stage.

_Oh I used to have a lady fair,_

_I lived my life without a care,_

_With my sweetheart making every day more sunny!_

_But when this war began, _

_She got caught in the frying pan,_

_And now ashes are all that's left of my Honey._

_I can still see her defending our new neighbors,_

_Even though we all knew they were jews._

_And when the Gestapo came to my door,_

_I couldn't protect her any more,_

_And now the only songs I sing are blues!_

_He had a dream!_

_He had a dream!_

_And you can't tell me true love will reign supreme!_

_'Cause nobody heard my True Love's cries,_

_As our future died before my eyes,_

_And among this war's death toll,_

_I'll count my dream!_

Their legs were free. Robin and Griswald danced among the soldiers, carrying their chairs along with them and slowly making their way to the exit. They couldn't believe it was working.

_Otto's family bakery's in ashes._

_Siegfried's dad forced him to enlist at fifteen._

_Adolf would love to mime,_

_But France thinks Germans are all slime._

_Klaus sketches,_

_Gunther paints!_

_Kermit wants to be a saint!_

_But none of us have dreams that have survived this war…_

"What about you?" The Hooked man asked their prisoners. "What are your dreams?"

Robin gave his friend an encouraging nod. Steve gave into the music.

_I still have a dream my friends,_

_That when this war finally ends, _

_I can go home knowing that_

_My home's still there!_

_And although your tales are all quite sad,_

_The future can't be half as bad,_

_With there is hope around to spare!_

The soldiers looked pleased at this, and Robin began to sing.

_I have a dream!_

_He has a dream!_

_I have a dream!_

_He has a dream!_

_I will protect the world from Hitler's _

_Dark regime!_

_And although you're on the other side,_

_And my hands are a little tied,_

_I know you're all good men,_

_Because you dream!_

The finale started up and the soldiers picked them up in their chairs.

_They've got a dream!_

_They've got a dream!_

_Call us brutal, sick, sadistic,_

_And grotesquely pessimistic,_

_But way down deep inside-_

"What is going on here?"

The soldiers froze mid-dance. General Peter stood in the doorway of the ruined church, flanked by five men. They were dressed in completely in black save for their red armbands. One of them wore a black cape and a straw hat.

The soldiers quickly put their prisoners down. The muppet on the guitar hid his instrumenet, while the muppet next to him snuffed out his cigar. "Uh… we were singing sir." The hook handed Nazi said.

"I know you were singing doofus." The fat general strode in. "Get out! You're supposed to be ravaging the countryside or something! We're about to kill the royal family, this land is ours now! Get out there and do something or you'll be having a discussion with my embarrassment ninjas!"

The soldiers took one look at the ninjas and began packing up. Peter turned to the two captives. "Cho! Take these prisoners of War to the brig. And if I hear the lot of you singing again, it better be a song for the motherland!"

A pair of ninjas dragged the two captives out of the church. Steve looked forlornly back, as the fat general took his father's guns for his own.

Robin sighed. They'd been so close.

Then he saw a glint of gold out of the corner of his eye. Trouble winked at him, and Robin knew it wasn't over yet.


	8. The Siege of Maldonia

A/N: So, it should be noted that my knowledge of Disney is not omniscient. It has been pointed out to me, that The Sorcerer's Apprentice includes Merlin's deah scene. I will be going back and editing my chapters from time to time, and be certain that once I watch the Sorcerer's Apprentice I will have to do something about that chapter. Much to my chagrin. It's such a nice chapter.

But don't worry. For those of you who didn't catch the references, the Spinning Tops of Doom are from Kim Possible, and Zurbriggen from the last chapter is a reference to a Disney Film called Third Man on the Mountain, which was out before most of you were probably born. So, yeah, a few instances aside I know what I'm doing.

Some people might also be confused by the ages of certain characters, when cross-referencing their ages with the date they are in Disney Canon, and World war Two. Don't worry, it'll all work out. Special instances aside, it's all just a case of them being either older or younger than they look in canon.

I do not own Disney. This story is not to be considered Canon (thank goodness). Any theology this story conveys does not reflect my religious views in real life. Happy readings!

* * *

_Sometimes people need a little help._

* * *

The broomstick swerved around a snowy peak. "I'm freezing!" Iridessa yelled, from inside the folds of Mickey's warm robes. "How much further is it?"

"I can see the end!" Peter yelled. Sure enough, the broomstick soon shot clear of the Alps. The countryside whipped past them at blinding speeds.

"Is this Maldonia?" Peter asked.

"No…" Mickey said. "This looks more like Rome."

"Who's that?" Peter pointed.

As they passed Vatican City, the Pope looked up from his reverie on the balcony. He saw a pagan looking mouse and a pointy-eared boy dressed in read and flying past the full moon on a broomstick. He crossed himself and hurried inside.

"That's the Pope." Mickey said. "He's the leader of a church that worships a single god."

"A single god?" Peter asked incredulously. "How does one god control everything? If there was one god, then he wouldn't have to argue with the other gods all the time, so he should be able to stop this war you're talking about. Unless…" Peter's eyes widened. "Do they worship an evil god?"

"No, no." Mickey shook his head. "It's… they just don't want to believe in Zeus or the gods of Olympus. It gives them hope to think that the gods aren't just as petty as mortals, and one god has an all encompassing plan for them through dark times. It gives them hope, and makes them better people."

Peter looked down on them. "But they're wrong."

"Yes."

He smiled. "How many of them are there?"

"I don't know, thousands."

"Ha! I'm smarter than thousands of people!"

"Peter… Peter we're almost at Maldonia, slow down."

"Oh, the cleverness of me!"

"Peter!"

The broomstick jolted and shook in the air. "Who, wha… woah!" The three of them fell through the sky

"What's happening!" Iridessa screamed. "What's happening?"

"Wizards!" Mickey yelled. "We're falling!"

Iridessa threw pixie dust in Mickey's face. "Think of happy thoughts! Think happy thoughts!"

"We're falling!"

"Think happy thoughts!"

"Aaaaiiieeee!"

Mickey managed to conjure up a thought of Mary Poppins, just before he hit the ground. He stopped, but the momentum of Peter on the broom made them surge forward regardless. The pair of them crash into Maldonian soil.

"What was that?" Peter moaned. "Why did we stop flying?"

"Because Maldonia is full of Wizards." Mickey said.

"What?"

Mickey brushed himself off. "Wizards. There are so many wizard families in Maldonia that they've saturated the land with their magic. Usually spirit magic, the kind sorcerers use, is more powerful, and stops Wizard's flash magic. But Maldonia is so full of flash magic I can't use any spirit magic here."

"There are more than one kind of magic?" Peter asked.

"Sure." Mickey said. "Wizards use flash magic, by trapping crocodile tongues and using them as batteries. Sorcerers draw on the spirits of the earth for spirit magic. Fairies, and leprechauns, and mermaids, and gargoyles, and other magical creatures use high magic by drawing their gifts from the gods themselves. And the gods… they draw on themselves for true magic."

"And you can't use your kind of magic here?" Iridessa asked.

"No." Mickey said, picking up his broom. "I can't do anything."

"Well there has to be a reason the flying girl sent us here." Peter said. "We're looking for a princess right? Well let's go to that castle over there."

Mickey saw the castle on the horizon. "Alright… let's go." The pair of them walked over the hill… and saw the scene below them. The castle was surrounded by nazi troops and spinning tops of doom. "Or… not."

"Not exactly a view is it?"

The three of them spun around, and Iridessa hid in Mickey's room. A pair of muppets sat on a wall. One of them was holding a guitar, the other was munching on a cigar. "Well he should be used to it by now." The cigar muppet said.

"Why's that?"

"Well, he's probably looked in a mirror before hasn't he?"

"Doooo-ho-ho-ho-ho!" The pair of them burst into laughter.

"You'll have to forgive Waldorf and Stan." A nazi soldier rounded on them. "Before this war started, they dreamed of being Comedians. You're a strange looking pair."

Peter caught a glint, and drew his sword. "You have a hook!"

The soldier's face turned grim as he brought his right hook up to the light. "Yeah? What of it?"

Mickey realized it was up to him to save both their lives. "Oh don't mind him." He laughed nervously. "There's no reason we can't all be friends here. He's just a little upset because his father had a hook."

"Really?" The soldier asked mockingly. "I bet he didn't play the piano much."

"All the time." Peter said. "He was always playing the piano. He was a genius."

The soldier blinked, and lowered his hooked hand. "Really?"

* * *

The King and Queen held each other as the screams of their palace guards grew louder.

"Mother, father, you have to run!" Navine drew his sword and stood at the doorway.

"You can't stop it." King Phillips said, hugging his son as tears streamed down his cheeks. "You can't stop it."

"Show some decorum your majesty." Queen Maria said. "We are royalty."

"Royalty or not, bullets will kill us the same." Navine said. "Take the child, and leave."

"There's no escape." The King said. "There's nowhere to run."

The doors burst open. The black armored man strode into the hall. A Maldonian soldier ran up behind him, charging with his bayonette. Without even looking, the man in black stabbed behind him, straight through the soldier's heart. He turned around, his head flopping off of his shoulders, and cleaved straight through his neck. He picked up his new head, shaking the new corpse off his sword.

He turned to the royal families with a wink and a grin.

"Mercy." Queen Maria whispered in horror.

The Horseman strode forward. Navine intercepted him, blade swinging. The Horseman deftly parried, and struck. Navine winced as he was forced on the defensive. Every blow he blocked shook his hands like he was deflecting a stone club. Every swing was aimed to kill. Navine was quickly growing tired.

"Jump back!" Count Maubrey moved forward, holding a wand in his hand. Navine leaped backwards, and Maubrey twirled his wand. The floor opened up underneath the Horseman, and he crashed into the story below.

"Count Aubrey…" The King blinked. "What on earth…"

"I apologize for not jumping in sooner." Aubrey said. "My people have sworn ourselves to secrecy." He held himself up straight. "I am a wizard your majesties."

"Why on earth did you not intervene sooner Count?" Queen Maria glared at him.

Count Maubrey bristled. "Wizards are snakes your highness." He said. "We have a limited amount of magic to draw on, and we fight like cats over it. We put our own children in dangerous competition, and we do everything we can to sabotage each other. I hope you appreciate your majesties, that by giving you my aid in this matter my peers in the wizarding world will remove my magic for revealing myself to you."

The Queen bowed. "I apologize for your loss Count Maubrey."

He shook his head in irritation. "Yes, well, we can discuss how you can properly thank me if we survive."

"Can you not just turn this monster into a toad?"

"No, no I cannot. That thing is from hell itself. Magic will only slow it down."

"Well can you not produce some means of escape?"

Suddenly, a blade sliced though the floor, and through Navine's leg. He screamed and collapsed as the blade withdrew. The Count waved his wand and Navine was pulled across the floor as the sword sliced through where Navine's neck was just a moment ago. Count Maubrey danced around with his wand, pulling Navine with him as the Horseman's sword cut through the floor.

A The sword made a final cut, and part of the floor collapsed. A black gauntlet gripped the edge, and he pulled itself up, a bloodthirsty look on its dented head.

"Nobody can save us." King Phillips wailed.

Suddenly, the windows crashed open. Five youths in bright and colorful spandex suits burst through the window. The one in purple spandex (and hair to match) began playing a song on his guitar. "Go Team GO!" He yelled.

The Horseman charged forward and brought his sword down upon the neck of Maldonia's king. The tallest young man in orange spandex and hair put himself between them, and a shimmering wall of orange energy filled the air.

"Your majesties." The big blue teen said. "We're here to rescue you." He pulled several harnesses out and began strapping them to the collective royals, the King of Rodigan groveling in gratitude.

The shapely young woman in the yellow uniform charged at the Horseman. He spung around and swung his sword at her raised hands. But a wave of golden icespread from her hands. The Horseman's swing continued as best as it could, slowly travelling onwards, before stopping just an inch shy of her neck. She sighed, and stepped back observing the golden glacier that the Horseman was trapped inside.

"Thank you." The Queen said. "Thank you very much. Might I know your names?"

"We're the Go family." He said. "We're superheroes, under the command of O.W.A.C.A."

The Queen stared at Navine. "You called them?"

"Their methods may be unorthodox, but any port in a storm Mother." Navine finished strapping himself in. "You will all be rewarded handsomely. Now let's go!"

The lines drew taught and the royal family was yanked out of the broken windows. The view as they hung from the helicopter was extraordinarily painful. Smoke rose from the town below. Screams rose through the air, above the sounds of shattered glass. The people of Maldonia fled as they realized the Nazis were invading their homes. Spinning tops of doom ravaged the countryside.

A large fist wrapped around the nobles, and a large black man hauled them fully into the helicopter. "Take us away agent F." He said, as the helicopter spun away from the sight.

* * *

Shego had just turned five years old yesterday. She insisted on going out and being a hero with her brothers and sister.

She hadn't realized how uncomfortable she felt in spandex.

"Do you have to keep playing?" She hissed at Mego. Her family joked that she didn't have a musical bone in her body. They would be right.

Mego stopped his strings. "Look, I have two jobs. Shrink, and play our theme song. And frankly, playing the song isn't as embarrassing."

She shuffled angrily, and Hergo hugged her. "It's uncomfortable isn't it? Don't worry, you get used to the spandex. It's easier to where when you're fighting somebody then when you're just standing there."

Shego loved Hergo. She was the only one who really got her. Hego and Mego were just so full of themselves, and Himgo always seemed so distant and… weird. Hergo was the one that had taught Shego about true heroism, saving people's lives because it was the right thing to do, not because it was fun or because it made you look good, but because sometimes people need a little help.

"Ladies, and gentlemen." Hego said with a winning smile. "Our first mission as heroes is a complete success! Go Team GO!" The rainbow colored family put their fists together in triumph.

All except for Himgo. He was lying on one of his force fields overtop the glacier. "This man has no head." He said. "I think he's a robot."

O.W.A.C.A. was experimenting with robots. Hego grinned. "Good. Then let's send this tin-man back to his maker in pieces."He wound up his fist.

"Hmmm… I don't think that's a good idea." Himgo said.

"Why not?"

"Because of the cracks." Himgo pointed. Cracks skimmed along the inside of the glacier. It appeared that it was trying to get out.

"He's right!" Shego said. "If we smash it, it could attack us! We should… we should throw it out of the window and into the ocean! And then we should storm the castle, and open the gates, and let everybody inside! Except for the Nazis. Then… Himgo can make a huuuuuuge bubble around the castle! And then…"

Hego chuckled softly. "Oh, Shego. You're so cute when you try to be smart."

Shego crossed her arms. "I am smart. I'm a big girl."

"Major Monogram said that we're supposed to get in, do what we can, and then get out when Agent F makes another pass in the chopper. We don't have time to form a rebellion, but we can break their toys." Hego wound up again, and shattered the glacier.

The Headless Horseman was free.

The air itself seemed to be cut in half as his sword sliced through the air.

Shego was struck numb as her dear sister's head rolled onto the floor.

"Hergo…"

Mego struck up the theme song again, but it seemed darker. As Hego connected a mighty punch with the Horseman, knocking his into the far wall, Shego struggled to breath, and stumbled to her knees.

"Hergo."

Hego charged forward. His mighty fist launched itself at the prone Horseman like a mortar shell. But the Horseman moved out of the way, and kicked the legs out from under him. His sword leaped into his outstretched hand, and he brought it down where Hego's head used to be just moments before.

"Hergo! Hergo!"

"Guys, the chopper's here!" Hego yelled.

Hego took one more paniced look at the Horseman and ran. "Come on Shego, time to go." He scooped her up and ran to the window.

"Get away from me!" She screamed. Her pigtailed hair began to writhe as she surrounded herself in flame. Hego dropped him as his arms began to burn. She ran forward like a demon, and poured green flame out at the Horseman.

The Horseman staggered, and dropped to one knee. His cape blew in the wind, and began to burn. Steam rose off of his armor. "I'll kill you!" Shego screamed. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

Suddenly, something was in his hand. He raised it to his head, and Shego suddenly felt the air leave her.

Hergo's head sat on the Horseman's armor.

Shego's fire faltered, as Hergo's mouth opened and laughed mockingly. Shego backed away in mute horror as the Horseman got up and strode forward, laughing. The mockery never left Hergo's face, as it began to burn away into a skeleton.

Shego went into shock. She didn't realize when she was surrouned in an orange bubble, or thrown out of the window. The strumming of helicopter blades above her were lost on her. "I killed her." She muttered.

The Horseman watched her leave. The blackened skull rolled off of his shoulders. He scanned the horizon, and felt his targets on a boat just off the cost. He could feel them… their necks just taunting him with the distance.

He leaped out of the window and into the water below, creating a fountain of steam.

The Horseman was angry. He was unreasonable. He was coming. And nothing on this earth could stop him.


	9. Magic Mirror

A/N: In the first chapter, I laid down three rules for this story. 1: No swearing, unless it is in character and the character has sworn before. 2: I will not drag Pixar into this rampant destruction of your childhood icons. And 3: There will be no sex scenes, just innuendo. Technically, this chapter doesn't break the third rule, but it comes close, so any of you squeamish might not want to read onward. This chapter **does not in any way** reflect upon any of the author's fetishes.

Now, as for Alice, I had some trouble deciding what to do with her. After all, there are two canon Alice movies. However, I decided that both movies were compatable. It explicitly said in the second movie that Alice had been to Wonderland before. On the topic of changes between character images in the two movies (particularly, the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts) they are devils. They can change their appearance at will.

* * *

_Alright then. I wash my hands of this wierdness._

* * *

Robin and Steve were marched into a small town. The buildings looked like they used to be bright, but as they were, flying the Nazi flag, they seemed drab and depressing.

The ninjas pulled them into an alley. Robin smiled as he saw a golden glint in the corner of his eye.

_Crunch_

The remaining ninja and his captives looked behind them. The other ninja had bite marks covering his chest, and his entire upper body was crushed.

"Wha…" Suddenly, the other ninja was lifted off his feet and hurled into the side of the alley with a resounding crack.

There was a shining blue light, and a monster emerged from it. It was neither a fish, nor a mammal, but some horrible amalgamation of the two. It had the head of a camel, the slender neck of a crocodile, monstrous lion paws, and a pair of tiny bat wings. Its stomach was huge, and it smelled horribly, like burnt apples.

"Rarrrrr, kn kn kn kn kn." The dragon muttered, with an impressively goofy smile for something so ferocious.

"It's a d-d-d-d-dragon." Steve said. He'd never stuttered before in his life.

Robin felt Trouble gnawing at the rope tying his hands together. He pulled them apart, the rope snapping. "Well, this is new. I've never met a dragon before." He began to untie Steve. "Don't panic Steve, this dragon just saved our lives. I don't think he wants to eat you."

"Yeah, yeah you're right." Steve suddenly realized that he was taking orders from somebody under recruitment age. "Why are you so calm?"

"I'm used to strange creatures." Robin said. "I've never seen a dragon before, but my dad runs and asylum for unusual animals."

"Unusual like Trouble?" Steve asked.

The fox looked up at him. "Yes." It said. "Unusual like Trouble."

Steve very nearly fainted on the spot.

"Trouble is the son of a hound dog and a vixen." Robin said. "And yes, he can talk. Still, a dragon. That's impressive. Where did you find him Trouble?"

"He found me." Trouble said. "His name is Elliot. He said he was taking care of a girl, but she was taken by Nazis. He's tried to rescue her, but he's too big to get into the place where she's being kept. In exchange for rescuing you, he wants you to rescue her."

The trio looked at Elliot, who was looking at them expectantly.

"Alright." Robin said. "I'll do it."

Steve shook his head. "I won't."

The dragon sniffed, and Robin turned to his new friend. "You won't?"

"I'm a brave man, but this is too surreal for me." Steve said. "I have to get out of Maldonia while the Nazis are still focused on taking it. I joined the army to protect my country, and I can't do that while I'm on dragon quests."

"I understand." Robin said. "Don't worry about it."

Steve was torn. The look on Robin's face said that he truly understood why he wanted to run, and didn't blame him in the least. How on earth could he desert somebody like that?

"Alright then." He said. "I wash my hands of this weirdness."

He left Robin and the talking animals before he could change his mind. He didn't look back.

* * *

Getting inside was the easy part. Their headquarters was essentially a boarding school, and they hadn't gotten around to making it a true fortress yet. All he had to do was climb a tree and snaek in through one of the higher windows.

The hard part was walking around in the corridors unnoticed. It was a hustle of activity. He'd taken one of the ninja's costumes to get around in, but he became increasingly self conscious about his stature. How does a ninja walk? Are they supposed to be climbing in the rafters? Do they constantly slink around like shadows in the night?

His worst fears were confirmed, when one busy Nazi stopped by him in the hall. "Hey Shien, aren't you supposed to be in the field?"

Robin froze for a split second, then pushed him out the window. He looked around, and when it looked like nobody saw him, (or, possibly, ninjas killing people was a normal occurrence around here, how was he supposed to know?)he carried on at a quicker pace.

Elliot had informed him that the girl he was here to rescue was in the Headmaster's office. But according to Trouble, Elliot had no concept of 'giving directions' so he'd just have to do his best. Robin knew Trouble knew that Robin had no sense of direction either, and did stuff like this just to mess with him. After three girl's bathrooms and one basement sonar lab, he decided that he had to get a better sidekick. Or, possibly, just kill the one he had.

Five wrong turns, and five dead Nazis later (they stumbled onto him when he was climbing out of the janitorial closet. First time he'd ever killed anybody with a mop) he was finally in front of a door with the shiny plaque that said; Headmaster's Office.

The inside was lavishly decorated, but it seemed worn somehow. Like somebody had decided being surrounded in luxury was so important that they had to haul the luxury across countries with them. There was a cheetah skin rug, and some cracked Greek vases. But no girl.

Robin opened the window. Elliot peered in, muttered something and pointed to… the bed.

Robin pulled the silk curtains back. The girl was chained to the bedposts. She was covered in bruises, and only wearing black lace.

She screamed through her gag when she saw him, and tried desperately to pull away. "No, no it's okay." Robin pulled his mask off. "I'm not with the Nazis, I swear. Elliot sent me to rescue you."

She stopped squirming, but she kept her eyes on him, fearfully. They were red from crying. Robin ground his teeth angrily, even though his parents told him never to do that, and moved over to look at her shackles. Realizing that searching for a key would take time, time that he did not have because he wanted to get this girl to safety NOW, he instead kicked at the bedposts until they broke off.

She ran to the window, and embraced Elliot's outstretched neck. Tears ran down both of their cheeks, and Elliot gently broke the handcuffs off.

Robin rummaged through the drawers and came up with a Nazi uniform far too big to belong to anything human, and draped it over the little girl. "Thank you." She said, her eyes saying that 'thank you' wasn't nearly enough. Robin helped lift her out through the window, onto Elliot's back.

Robin tried to follow, but the window was narrow. Halfway through trying to wriggle out, the door to the room opened.

Robin just had time to pull the curtains over the window, before two little girls and a pair of Nazis walked into the room.

"And I think I can isolate it." The red-headed girl said. "I honestly think I can isolate the part of the brain that holds people's evil thoughts."

"And then Anna?" The blonde girl moved over to the window. Robin hurriedly moved off to the side as she pulled the windows open. All she would need to do is look to her right and he'd be caught…

"And then I could do anything Alice." Anna smiled. "Dr. Dementor's been teaching me how to conquer the world. I think it sounds fun."

Alice smiled faintly. "Anna, I have a job for you."

Anna waited expectantly.

"Summon the Huntsmen." She turned away from the window (Robin exhaled in relief as she turned left) and gave a smile so wide that her cheeks disappeared. "There is an invisible dragon in the courtyard."

Robin's blood ran chill. Just the opposite seemed to happen to Anna. "A dragon?" She squeeled. "Can I…?"

"Maleficent's standing orders." Alice said. "Go ahead."

Anna eagerly hurried out of the room, followed by the pair of Nazi guards.

There was silence.

It was unbearable. Robin held his breath, mentally begging her to leave. He had to leave too, to save Elliot, and the girl, from whatever Anna had in store for them.

But Alice just walked over to a wall. She took the cover off of what Robin had assumed to be a painting, and instead revealed a mirror. And what a mirror! Alice's reflection was a stormcloud. A dark thunderous mass, with flashes of lightning accentuating the wide grin it bore. There was no lips, no gums, no mouth, just a set of pearly wide teeth set in an evil grin.

Robin couldn't help but shudder.

Alice looked at her reflection. "Alone at last." She sighed.

She picked up the ornate mirror and threw it onto the ground. Robin winced, convinced that the ancient looking mirror would shatter, but it didn't even bounce.

Alice started up a phonograph and music began to play. She climbed on top of the mirror, smiling her disturbing smile.

_Mirror, mirror, on the ground,_

_Mirror, mirror, smooth and round,_

_Mirror, tell me all you know,_

_That I may my evil fortunes sow_

The Mirror shuddered.

_I am not yours, that you may ask,_

_I cannot do this wicked task,_

_The future is not for you to see,_

_Now go away, get off of me._

Alice laughed then. She laughed a wicked, evil laugh, that bespoke of knowledge beyond mortal ken, of total control and total chaos working in tandem terror. Her fingers lightly stroked the glass, and cracks ran along its surface.

_Mirror dear, do not test me,_

_I want a peek, so I will see._

_Mirror mirror, you will tell me _

_What is to be my destiny!_

Robin winced as the mirror cried out in pain. The cracks in the glass seemed to glow with unearthly light. This time the mirror answered, though it sounded like it was in pain.

_In twenty months precisely,_

_The planets will align, ever so nicely_

_And the time to ask will be at hand, _

_To become the White Queen of Underland!_

Alice moaned and stretched on top of the mirror like a cat. She licked the mirror passionately like it was covered in sugar, moaning with pleasure.

_Mirror, mirror, tell me true,_

_Of the things I ask of you._

_How do I become the Queen?_

_And what can stop my plan reign?_

Tendrils of magic light emerged from the cracks in the mirror, gently stroking Alice. Alice's hair rose and blew around her face, as her lips made a small 'o'.

_Your plan requires just two things, to come to full fruition;_

_A Devil, like no one's ever seen, a dark abomination!_

"Yes…" Alice moaned. "Yesssss!"

_Seek the child from Neverland to turn him down dark paths,_

_For he shall have a power, that no other Devil hath._

Alice began swaying to the beat of the music, the mirror still cried out in pain, even as the magic flowing from it continued to brush against Alice's cheek.

_And after that you need to find the seven golden flowers,_

_For only with their magic can you keep your newfound powers_

"Yesss! Yes!" Alice cried in ecstacy.

_And as for who can stop you and your dark and dreadfull plan;_

_Easy enough to answer; only seven people can._

_The seven who will hold the keys to the Magic Kingdom;_

_A Pirate, a Princess, a Hero, a Thief, an Inventor, a Wizard, and a Star._

_One of them will scowl and glower._

_Two of them lived in a tower._

_Three of them have magic power._

_Four of them from death would cower._

_Five will save the earth in an hour._

_Six of them will have a magic flower._

_And each their enemies devour._

"YESSSS!" Alice cried out in pleasure as the music reached its climax.

_And they will come together though time and space divide,_

_The Seven of the Order and a fairy too beside._

_And the Shadow Man will follow, and the Oracle will guide!_

The phonograph stopped, and the mystic lights faded. Alice sighed with delight.

She straightened her hair and, almost reluctantly, got off of the mirror. Still breathing heavily, she placed the mirror on the wall, and wiped it clean with her apron. As her apron moved over it, even the cracks disappeared. On the outside it looked better than new, but it still felt… wrong. In a moment of horrible clarity, Robin realized the parallels between what he'd seen and what the girl had been through. With one final, horrible kiss, Alice draped the clothe back over the mirror.

"So, what did you think of that Absolom?"

A bright blue butterfly flew in through the open window, almost brushing against Robin's cheek. It alighted on Alice's finger. "Oh my." She smiled, and this time it was without any teeth. "Well, I hope he enjoyed the show. Come along." She left the room, with the butterfly still on her finger.

Robin peeked out of the curtains. He sighed with relief, and looked out of the window. Elliot was on the ground, hiding the girl in one of the utility vans, unaware from his vantage point of the several armored men sneaking towards him with nasty looking weapons. Robin spotted the red-head – Anna. She was carrying a particularly nasty looking saw.

"Elliot." Robin raced out of the room to warn him…

And fell flat on his face as something grabbed his ankles.

"Aaauggh!" He pried his face from the floor, suddenly realizing it was quite wet. He looked at his ankles, and saw that they were submerged into the carpet, as was the leopard skin rug.

"It's called a Persian Quick-rug." Said a frighteningly sweet and sugary voice.

Robin twisted his head around. Sitting right on the edge of the windowsill, where he had been standing moments before, was a girl with golden hair, bright blue eyes, and a smile that knew more than you ever would.

"If you wouldn't mind, could you scream a little before you die? Screaming is like music to my ears."


	10. The Organization Without A Cool Acronym

A/N: I do not own any of the characters in this chapter. For those of you just tuning in, this is a darkfic. Anybody could die at any time, including your favorite characters. Do not read on if you value your childhood.

I originally had a song called _The Organization Without A Cool Musical_, but I'll have to fit it in some other chapter. Unfortunately, there's going to be another song next chapter, and I couldn't have three songs in a row.

Read and Review!

* * *

_You could escape from here. Why don't you?_

_There's nowhere to go._

* * *

A little boy sat alone in a white room. The only decorations in the room were a telegraph machine, a painting of sunflowers (and original Van Gogh) and a telegraph machine, quietly tapping out messages from the world outside. He was as thin as a pencil. Worse than thin, he looked like he hadn't eaten in days. His black hair fell across his face as he peered through it to his work. He looked up at the painting, once or twice, then he looked back down, and continued carving.

A light knocking came from the door. Not waiting for an answer, Dr. Dementor walked into the room. "Drew?"

The boy only nodded, not looking around.

"What are you… how did you get out of your straight jacket?"

Drew shrugged. "Just set down dinner anywhere."

Dr. Dementor walked in, and felt something crunch underneath his boots. The floor had thirteen chess boards, arranged in a way only Drew could figure out, and chess pieces set on them even more strangely. Looking down, he saw he'd just stepped on several pawns… with jewish stars carved onto them.

He felt sick. Did his son plan for him to step on… no he couldn't have…

He set the dinner down next to the machine. "You should leave." Drew said, moving the Queen named Alice across the board. "And check up on Anna after this. And then check up on Dr. XXX."

"Why?" Dementor asked. His son was brilliant. He could calculate the future… see every step in front of him like a grand design.

"Dr. XXX will succeed." Drew said. "And for a while, you'll fall out of favor. But eventually the end result will rebel and he'll have need of your surfaces. Anna is about to do something to curry favor with Maleficent. You'll need to help."

"Right." Dr. Dementor opened the door, but he stopped. The question nagging at the back of his mind wouldn't go away. "Son… if you've escaped from your straight jacket, you could escape from here. Why don't you?"

"There's nowhere to go."

Dr. Dementor nodded, and left. He didn't see him place the rook he was carving onto the chessboard. He'd carved letters down the side; O.W.A.C.A.

"Yet."

* * *

The mighty ship the S.S. Unconquerable streamed across Doe Bay at full speed. But even as it evaded the Nazi battleships chasing it like a pack of wolves, the majestic ship seemed to stand at full attention as the helicopter containing the royal families landed on the command deck, where waited a man in full Captain's uniform. His name was Fergus Flynn, and he was the second in command of the O.W.A.C.A.

"This way your highnesses." Agent B helped the royal families off of the helicopter. Agents F and V flew off to pick up the Go family. Flynn was really uncomfortable about dressing kids up in spandex and sending them into war. But he trusted Monogram about these things. It was his job to make him look good.

"Your majesties!" Flynn bowed deeply, in proper English fashion. "Welcome to the S.S. Unconquerable!" A nearby explosion rocked the ship. "I apologize for the delay in getting here, but as you can see we're doing the best we can."

"Ex-Commander Flynn." The Queen of Maldonia strode coldly off of the ship. Her husband behind her was less formal, hovering over his wounded son. "Thank you for the prompt rescue. My son is in need of medical attention."

"Of course Ma'am." Flynn gestured, and Agent B hefted the bleeding prince to the infirmary. "And I must thank ye for asking for our help."

"It was my son who asked for aid, and only when all other options were exhausted." The Queen said. "I myself have severe doubts about your… organization."

"Well we did jus' save yerself and yer family Ma'am." Flynn pointed out.

Another explosion rocked the boat. "Not yet, Ex-Commander Flynn." She gestured ahead. "And as we flee, perhaps only delaying the inevitable, my country burns. And the lives of my family and friends are in the hands of a madman."

"Well, thank goodness for that." Flynn said. "Because it's not like sane men have gotten us anywhere, eh?"

He could tell from the look on her face that this didn't reassure the Queen. "Look, right now we're yer only hope. Jus' give Max a chance eh? I wouldn't sacrifice my military career over him if he weren't the best man for the job. I believe his 'madness' is just some deep, deep strategic thinking, that mere mortals cannot comprehend."

"Flynn!" On reflex, Flynn turned and sharply saluted Max Monogram. "How many ships to Port?"

"Five sir!" Flynn yelled. "And one to Stern! I've ordered to head Stern!"

"Nonsense!" Monogram yelled. "That's what they're expecting! Order the ship to escape to Port! All power to engines! Ramming speed!"

Queen Maria stared, superbly disdainful. "the man you've placed your trust in is a Muppet. And he is not wearing trousers."

"Begging yer pardon ma'am, but if you were a genius you wouldn't wear pants either. You should get below deck and tend to your son."

He left the shocked queen to issue his orders.

The S.S. Unconquerable used to be his ship when he was in her majesty's Navy. And he wouldn't see her fall to these savages. Doe Bay opened up into two openings, divided by an island. On the Island's stern, five Nazi battlships blocked their escape, and to the Island's port was a single enourmous flagship, large enough to make the Unconquerable look like a dwarf. And behind them, to boats pursued them. "Steer to Port!" He yelled. "Present 'em with as little a target and as much metal as you can!" He hoped his ship could live up to her name.

Cannon fire ripped across the ships, and then he saw the cunning of Monogram's plan. If they had tried to blow past the one ship, they would have presented a clear side of their ship to the enemy, making it a bigger target. And by steering through the larger number of ships, a good many portions of their shots ended up hitting their own ships.

They could make it.

"Sir!" Agent P pointed. "There's a ship dead ahead."

"That there is." Flynn acknowledged her, hoping the sweat on his brow didn't show. "We stay the course."

This was it. There were only a few agents in O.W.A.C.A. and this was their first battle against the enemy. This was where they showed their metal. Officially, they were pirates. He'd deserted the British Navy when Max came to him with his madcap plan for a special situation unit and he decided it was worth the risk. If they succeeded here, they might get approval and funding, and then they could really get into Hitler's business.

"Hold fast lads!" He called out, before gripping the railing himself. The ship's head sheared clean through an enemy ship's side. Multiple explosions rocked the vessel, and in the end, the Unconquerable emerged through the smoldering wreckage of two halves of a ship.

The crew let out a loud cheer, even as they continued firing.

And then the ship began to slow down.

"What happened?" Flynn asked. "Why are we slowing down?"

* * *

The anchor hadn't been pulled up all the way. Normally it wouldn't matter, but not when the Horseman held onto it and dug his heels into the silt at the ocean floor.

Nobody escapes the Horseman.

* * *

"Prepare to be Boarded!"

They had made it out of the bay, but they were going increasingly slowly. The pair of boats on their tail had managed to catch up. The other four boats were turning around. O.W.A.C.A.'s few agents took cover and got ready for a fight. They may be few, but they were selected because of their special skills.

Agent M, otherwise known as Gabriella Montez, ran out of ammunition as she tried to pepper the enemie boats with lead. An enemy sniper noticed, and took the opportunity to shoot her directly in the stomach. Agent Spinelli dropped his own weapon to help her. Flynn badly wanted to yell at him to get back to his post, but seeing Agent M like that, he couldn't find it in him.

The Nazis got close enough to put up ramps and begin to board. However, they met with much more reliable resistance then O.W.A.C.A.'s gunners. Agent P, Nim Possible to her friends, dove among the boarders, red hair swirling, as she dodged gunfire like they were throwing snails at her. Flynn was honestly shocked that he managed to convince the first woman to finish the Navy's Basic Underwater Demolition Course to join a half-baked enterprise like this.

Agent B, who refused to be called anything but Cobra, helped himself to another helping of boarders. Of the Nazis fished out alive from the waters that day, half of them would report that the last thing they saw was a fist coming towards them, tattooed with the word Cobra. The other half would, more bewildered than anything, saw that the fist that decked them out was tattooed with the word Bubbles.

The helicopter landed again, and Flynn rushed up to it. He could see another small boat speeding towards them from the mainland, and this was just the lucky break he needed right now. "Agent F! Grab a machine-gun and go!" He climbed aboard as Agent V left. "Himgo! Himgo I need you to make a shield around the ship!"

"I can't!" Himgo said. "I have to keep Shego from burning us all!"

Flynn saw the girl, encased in an orange sphere and burning with bright green flame. He knew nothing could get past Himgo's shields, but he swore he could feel the heat. She looked like she was about to pass out from lack of oxygen, the tears streaming down her cheeks evaporated almost instantaneously. He'd known she wasn't ready for this. She was only a child. It wasn't right to force her into war. He only wished he could reach out to her, in that moment.

"All right then. Hergo, I need you to make an ice…" He suddenly realized that Hergo wasn't there. And then he knew why Shego was crying. He clenched his fists. This was bad. Agent J was down, and if this kept up, then by the time they finished off the two ships, the other five Nazi ships would have converged, and then the big one after that. They needed to get the royal family out of here, and they needed to do it now.

"Captain Flynn!" The young agent S ran up to them. "Another Nazi ship approahcing, but it has a white flag up!"

That piqued Flynn's interest. He jogged over to the railing to get a look at the ship.

It was coming in fast on their tail. On its prow was a boy, dressed in red leaves and a red pirate's longcoat. He had a knife in his hands and was waving it like a madman. "Avast ye scurvy dogs! We've come to lend ye the blade of Captain Jack Hook!"

The Nazis on the boat to the Unconquerable's stern, began to scream as the new boat came towards them. The new boat knocked them out of the way. The boarding ramps fell into the ocean, along with the Nazis running across them. The crew of the Unconquerable cheered as the newcomers took their place.

Monogram was at that side of the ship in an instant. "Go defend the Port side!" He yelled, and the crew joined the others where the fight was. "What are you doing?" He asked the newcomers.

"We're helping ye! Is that not obvious!" The red-headed child said, in an atrocious pirate accent.

"We're here to fight Nazis!" A cheer rose up from the ship's crew, and Flynn noticed that most of them wore Nazi uniforms but no Swastica armbands.

Monogram noticed too. "Hey! Are you lot Nazis?"

"No, we hate Nazis. We're just Germans."

"Then come aboard!"

"Come on men!" A soldier with a hook for a hand gestured to his crewmates. "For our dreams!"

The boy with the knife leaped over the bridge between the two ships, followed by the swarm of Germans. "Hoist the colors!" The boy yelled. "Weigh the Anchor! Avast me mateys, dying is the day worth living for!"

_Oh well._ Flynn thought. _Two madmen are better than one._

"Ahem."

He felt a tugging at his leg. He looked down. The mouse tugging his leg wore a red robe and a pointy wizard hat. He blinked. "Slap me thrice and hand me to me mamma. Do you know, you're a talking mouse. Or I'm insane."

"You're not insane." The Mouse said. "But we can't go out to sea. Look."

Flynn obligingly looked. There were storm clouds on the horizon, and a shape moving amongst the smoke. "What in the name of the Queen's knackers is that?"

"It's a dragon." Mickey said. "But she can't come into Maldonia, or Rhodigan, or Genovia. Not while the royal families are alive."

"Well we have the royal families on our ship, right now." Flynn said. He was beginning to panic.

Mickey's eyes boggled. "But… but they're outside of Maldonia's borders." Mickey said. "She can get them. And then she can go into the Kingdoms…"

Flynn didn't hear the rest of it. He was running up to team Go. "Himgo!" He yelled. "Get a shield around us now!"

"I can't!" He said. "Shego's hotter than she's ever been before! She'll burn us all if I let go!"

"Let me see." Mickey pushed through.

* * *

Shego couldn't stop seeing her. She couldn't stop seeing her sister burning. She was surrounded by fire, fire on all sides. Her fire. She wished she'd never gotten these superpowers. She killed her sister. The fire burned. She hadn't known how much fire had burnt.

"It's not your fault." She looked up. There was a boy there, walking through the fire without getting burnt. He looked sad.

"I killed her." She said. "I killed my sister."

"That's not your sister." The boy pointed out. Shego looked again. Hergo sas smiling at her, mockingly. But it was just her head. The rest of it was an armored man.

"What is it?"

"It's something horrible. Something not of this earth." The boy knelt down next to her. "That thing killed your sister, okay? Not you."

Tears welled up in Shego's eyes. "It should've been me instead of Hergo."

The boy held her hand. "My name's Mickey." He said. "What's yours?"

"Shego." She said.

"Well Shego." Mickey said. "I've lost a sister too. We were in danger, and she leaped in front of it to protect me. Shego, I almost died anyway, but I decided I needed to survive. For her."

He brushed the tears away from her eyes. "Shego, you're burning. And you need to stop. For Hergo."

* * *

Shego opened her eyes. She was trapped in an orange sphere. "She's awake!" She heard the boy yell.

The orange sphere opened. She fell into the hands of a boy. Except he wasn't a boy… he was a mouse! A talking mouse! Like the cartoons Himgo drew!

She looked around. Himgo was making a shield around the rest of the ship now. People were shooting at them from the outside.

"But we still can't leave!" Flynn said. "We're still stuck here."

"Captain!" Agent P yelled. "The boat is sinking!"

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know, maybe we've sprung a leak!"

Shego saw something peek out of the mouse's robes. Something small.

"Iridessa?" The Mouse asked. "Do you think you could help us out?"

"I… yes, maybe."

The little girl, flew over the ship. Shego watched in wonder, as it dropped gold everywhere. "Think happy thoughts!" A boy yelled somewhere. "Everybody! Think of the happiest thing!"

Shego tried to think of a happy thought. She pried her mind away from thoughts of her sister.

* * *

The Horseman braced himself against a rock.

His anger was such that a thunderstorm would shrink from a fight with him. Over the years he had been summoned countless times. Mortals had thought to control him, to have him kill their enemies. And he obeyed because they summoned him. He killed because he enjoyed death.

But he had always, always, finished his quarry quickly. They died and he would go back home.

Some just screamed. Some ran. Some begged for mercy. Some bartered for their life. Some tried to fight. It mattered not. When the horseman was summoned, their death was the one constant.

But nobody had evaded him for this long!

His grip on the anchor chain tightened. He put one fist in front of the other. He didn't care about their heads any more. He would kill them, and anybody else on the boat.

* * *

Shego tried to focus on her mom and dad. But it was impossible. She couldn't get the picture of her sister out of her head.

"Yow!" Mickey dropped her, pulling back his singed robe.

"I'm sorry." She cried. "I'm sorry. I can't stop thinking about my sister…"

"Then think about her." Mickey said, understandingly. "Think about all of the good times you had with her."

Shego turned her mind to her sister again. But this time she stopped thinking about her death. She thought about the time Hergo bought her and Mego ice cream. The times when she'd stay up with her to keep her mind off of her parents. She thought about how she stood up for her in front of Monobrow (and giggling behind his back when they made up that nickname). How when the man at the fair tried to cheat Shego out of a toy, Hergo had won the toy for her.

Almost against her will, a smile crept up into the corners of her mouth.

"Everybody!" Peter yelled. "Think the happiest thoughts you can!"

* * *

The Horseman felt it. The presence of fairy magic. He pulled down on the anchor with all of his demonic strength.

And the ship above him pulled up.

Alright. Time for a change of tact.

The Horseman let himself get light, and the ship shot up like a balloon. The Horseman kept putting one hand in front of the other.

* * *

"Avast mateys!" Peter yelled. "We're aloft!"

Flynn thought he'd never live to see the day. His ship, the Unconquerable, was soaring through the sky, an orange shield blocking off the rockets fired from below.

"Dragon off the Starbord side!"

He saw the dragon bearing down on them, a great black lizard that could devour any of his crew whole, smoke streaming out of her mouth, racing to get them before they crossed back into Maldonia.

Agent Spinelli screamed like a little girl. "Your… orders Captain?" Agent P asked with a tremble in her voice.

Flynn saw the dragon and thought of shooting it out of the sky. It was a happy thought. "Give her blood and thunder."

Agent F emptied the Unconquerable's main gun at the giant dinosaur. A cheer rose from the crew as one shell burst through her right wing and it crumpled in on her. She fell through the sky, transforming back into Maleficent in a burst of flame. She flew back down to the helm of the giant ship and began barking orders, but no matter how many rounds they fired, Himgo managed to keep up his barrier.

"That's showing the old dinosaur!" Flynn cheered. Then he heard Agent V calling from behind him.

"Captain! I think I've found out why we've been sinking!"

* * *

The Horseman's grip wasn't even phased when the anchor crashed into one of the towers of Maldonia's palace. He just kept climbing up. He would pursue his prey over world's edge if that is where their path lay.

One hand reached over the edge of the boat and he pulled himself up.

In front of him stood a man, and though he had no eyes the Horseman could see he was valiant and true.

That was it. The last straw.

He would personally massacre every last filthy reeking mortal on this ship.

He raised his sword, and the man reached into his trench coat and pulled out a really large six-shooter. The Horseman had met such weapons before, and would have laughed at the folly of it, had he not been in such a mood that would make monsters cower.

The man shot the Horseman at point blank range. The bullet stopped in mid-air, took one look at the Horseman, and fled.

The Horseman paused. He had never seen a bullet act that way before. It was almost… comical.

He laughed.

He couldn't help it. He knew the effect he had on mortals, but the fact that a bullet had ran away from him…

And Edward Valiant took the opportunity to push him off the side of the boat.

The gall!

The Horseman grabbed the anchor chain. He decided that he would kill the man in the trenchcoat first. He would keep his head, and when he accomplished his geass he would place it in his special trophy case, and wear it at parties.

Then the man leaned over the side of the boat and fired another shot. This time, the bullet raced toward the chain, pulled out an axe bigger than the one that had originally cut off the Horseman's head, and cleaved the chain in two.

The Horseman decided he hated this human more than any other being in any other world, and by the time he hit the ground, he had decided not to cut off his head, but to systematically break and destroy every single fibre of his being, starting with his toe tips, and continuing up to his neck, keeping him alive until the very end, and then wearing his head as a trophy during the Red Queen's gallas.

He crashed through the roof of a shop below him. When he hit the ground floor, it knocked a great many clocks off the wall, and all of them went off sounding out great bells and flinging cuckoo birds at him.

"Run Pinnochio!"

The Horseman stood up, and watched the carpenter stand before him, legs shaking, saw in hand.

Unacceptable!

First his quarry had the gall to elude him for a while, and now even a mere carpenter could stand his ground? No! the Horseman advanced, and the poor fool stood, trapped like a deer in headlights. A single swipe of the sword and he was no more.

The Horseman picked up the anchor, on top of a dead cat and a fish madly flopping around searching for air. He dragged it outside.

The boy the carpenter had died trying to protect was being molested by the Nazis. He cared little for the jewish lad's fate. He swung the anchor over his head, and it crashed through the window of a passing jeep.

The car rolled to a stop. The Horseman ignored the passenger's cries for mercy as he tossed the anchor in the backseat and threw him out. He got in the jeep and drove. His quarry would not get far.


	11. How Did We Survive That?

A/N: This is the end of the Horror Of Wars Arc, the beginning of this adventure. Next I'll have a breif christmas interlude, and then move to the Game Of Shadows Arc. As you'll see if you read on, I plan on exploring in more detail Shego's origins. How she became who she is, and why. And what was the deal anyway, with the mysterious comet that gave her and her family their powers?

Read on, and please Review!

* * *

_If you want to barter for your life, you're going to have to bring something of equal value to the table_

* * *

"He is a fishmonger, and he's flying." Flynn hummed to himself as his precious battleship flew over the lands of Maldonia. He remembered his past life. Used to be a humble fishmonger's son, but one of the neighborhood bullies bought himself a motorbike and paraded it around town, shoving it in the faces of everybody, including his father. Well, he couldn't have that. So he set to work building his own bike from parts of an old dingy, practiced, and when the time came he preformed stunts with a bike that many people would say were crazy.

Well, look at him now. He was doing stunts with a ship that even he would consider crazy.

"Panzers to port side!" Agent F called.

"Do not engage!" Flynn ordered. "Do not draw attention to ourselves. With any luck, they'll think they've gone daft, or had too much of the drink. Fire only when fired upon!"

"Aye-aye Captain!" Agent F saluted.

Flynn descended onto the main deck. "Agent B!"

"Yes sir." Cobra emerged from the decks.

"I'm going below deck to try and sort this thing out. Take command until I return."

"Aye-aye Captain."

Flynn turned and shouted one last order at the crew. "And everybody keep thinking happy thoughts!"

After a reassuring chorus of 'aye-aye's, Flynn descended below decks. He had a royal mess to solve down there, both metaphorical and literal. And, frankly, his trust of Monogram didn't extend to his ability to prevent an international incident.

When he got to the safe room in the center of the ship, it was disconcerting to say the least. The royal Cadogan family was shaking in a corner, as Monogram's personal physician Doctor Terminus looked them over. The Maldonians were listening intently to the child sized mouse wearing a robe and a wizard's hat. The boy wearing an old scarlet suit and some leaves was engaged in a match of wits with Monogram, heaven help them.

"You're not wearing pants!"

"Neither are you! At least I'm not wearing a dress!"

"This isn't a dress! All the fairies wear this!"

"And you think fairies don't wear dresses?"

"What would you know about fairies?"

"Nothing, but I know about dresses."

"Of course you do. That's why you're not wearing pants."

"Hey!"

Flynn clapped his hands to get attention. "Alright everybody, could we settle down please?" He looked pointedly at Monogram and… Peter, was it? "Alright, we've managed to stave off that headless beastie for now. But I want to know what it is that's chasing the royal families. Anybody care to shed a light on that?"

Everybody looked pointedly at Mickey.

"Alright." Mickey stood up on a soapbox to address everybody.

"I'd also like to know who are two new guests are, and why my ship is flying."

"Three new guests." Iridessa said shyly from her perch on Peter's jacket.

"I'm Mickey." Mickey said shyly. "I'm an apprentice of a sorcerer named Merlin."

"Drop the other shoe." Monogram muttered. Peter stomped him hard on the foot, and Monogram began hopping around silently cursing.

"You mean Merlin of myth?" Flynn asked. "The Merlin of king Arthurs time, said to return in Britain's darkest hour?"

"Captain." The Queen of Maldonia said sharply. "Please control your flights of fancy."

"Ummm, well golly yeah, that Merlin." Mickey said. "Except… he's not going to make it to Britain's darkest hour. He's… dead."

The room fell silent.

"But… uh… well, before he died, he told me to find the order of Fantasia to help win the war. We… uh… took the advice of a friend and came to Maldonia, looking for a member of the order, but we decided to help you."

"When we reach the safety of Switzerland, you will have Maldonia's full support in your search." Naveen said.

"Naveen." His mother scolded him.

"Mother, I've seen things that have blown my mind. There's a good chance Merlin exists, and so I will help the mouse."

She considered this. Her son tended to make foolish decisions from time to time but… "Very well. You shall indeed have our full support."

"Well golly, thanks." Mickey smiled.

"So why is the ship flying?" Monogram asked.

"Probably because of your hot air." Peter muttered.

"Don't start with me kid."

"Don't end on me old man."

"I'm twenty."

"That's twenty years too old."

"Um, that's me." Iridessa piped up. "I covered the ship with pixiedust. As long as we keep thinking happy thoughts, we'll keep flying."

"So your favorite pastime is getting high on pixiedust?" Monogram snorted at Peter.

"Your just jealous because you'll never be able to fly." Peter growled, not noticing Monogram's smile.

"Stop this childish bickering at once." The Queen snapped. "Now, what of the Horseman? I assume we're safe from him?"

"Only as long as you're in the air." Mickey said. "But as far as I could tell he was summoned to kill the royal families."

"What?" The King of Cadogan gasped.

"You see, in the three kingdoms, some magic doesn't work." Mickey said. "They're under protection. Which is why Maleficent needs the royal families dead."

Naveen suddenly stood up. "Tiana! Isabella!"

Everybody in the room was pulled into the air as the ship fell, and then unceremoniously dumped on the floor as it crashed into the Maldonian countryside.

"Regain your composure Naveen!" The Queen snapped. "Happy thoughts everybody."

"But Tiana and Isabella aren't in the air with us, and they're part of the royal family!" Naveen cried. "What if the horseman decides to go after them!"

"Well obviously we won't let that happen!" The Queen said. "But we can't stop him until we are safe. So! Happy thoughts! Now!"

* * *

What did it mean to grow up?

Shego peeled off her icky latex uniform. She hated Monogram for making her wear it, she hated Hego for agreeing with him, and she hated herself for… for… for something!

She tossed the uniform on her bed and reached into her chest of drawers. She felt the tears start to come again, and her eyes lit up with green fire, turning them to steam. She didn't want to cry again.

Her eyes were still burning when she searched her jacket and found her green dress. She hated this dress too. She was wearing this dress when they all got their powers from that stupid meteor. But… it was a present from Hergo. She put it on.

That headless guy in black armor… she hated him most of all. Him, and Monogram for putting her family in this mess.

Her heart clenched and she sobbed, her eyes still burning. She shook her head. She needed to think happy thoughts. She needed to think about all of the fun times that her sister… gave her…

She choked a little, but her sobbing stopped. It was replaced by a burning anger.

When does somebody grow up? When they turn twenty? When they lose their virginity? When they first realize they won't live forever?

Shego felt the ship thud to a landing. She looked out of her porthole. And she saw it.

They were on the border of a small village, and the black headless _**THING!**_ Was driving up to them in a Nazi jeep, swinging the ship's anchor over its head. It threw the anchor, and Shego felt the shudder as it tore into the side of the ship. The ship began to slowly float again, and the monster abandoned his vehicle to start climbing up the chain.

Shego clenched her fist. It grew into a bright molten green, as the very air around it started to burn. She was all out of happy thoughts, but she could think of something she could do to make the ship fly higher.

She punched the wall, and her hand tore through it like a hot knife through butter. She wasn't as strong as Hego, not by a long shot, not by a thousandth. But the steel was so hot, it was as pliable as a paper clip.

She looked out of the hole in the ship with burning eyes, and heard the echo of that monster laughing with her sister's mouth.

You grow up, when your first reaction to a problem, is to deal with it yourself instead of going for help.

She reached out, burning fingers making soft handholds in the side of the ship, and she started climbing towards the climbing monster.

* * *

Mickey and Peter began to run through the ship again, with Monogram and Flynn right on their heels. The ship was slowly beginning to rise again, but not fast enough.

"Can't you magic the ship to fly better?" Captain Flynn asked.

"I told you, I can't use magic." Mickey gulped. He felt the familiar panic that had come with having mouse magic.

They reached the top of the deck, and Agent P ran up to Flynn. "Bad news sir." She said. "That suit of armor is back."

"The horseman's relentless." Flynn grabbed his binoculars and raced to the side of the ship. The Horseman was climbing up the anchor chain like a koala from hell. Captain Flynn had seen a Koala or two in his navy days. He had no wish to see another.

"Agent P, have Agent F load the cannons, and fire on him." Monogram ordered.

"We're almost out of ammunition sir." Agent P said.

"Well then load up all of the dead mice the ship's cat caught."

"Wait!" Captain Flynn ordered. He's just seen the flash of green. "You can't fire! Shego's down there!"

The green-eyed girl tore her way across the ship's hull, one burning hand at a time. Captain Flynn shed a silent tear at the damage being done to his ship. He had no idea what to do at the sight of the distressed girl heading towards the monster.

"Has agent F loaded the mice yet?" Monogram asked, nonchalantly.

"We can't fire on her!" Captain Flynn yelled. "Least of all with dead mice!"

Mickey was becoming increasingly pale at the subject of dead mice, when a shell burst at the railings and everybody ducked.

"Can we fire it at them then?" Monogram asked. "It's just… I kind of want to fire dead mice at something."

"I have a feeling we're in over our heads Peter." Mickey sighed. And then, with a start, he realized that the familiar red-adorned kid wasn't at his side. "Peter?"

* * *

Dragon whiskers, dragon toes, a dragon tooth and a dragon nose!

Every little piece!  
Every little piece!  
I'll find out how they work by slicing them! Dicing them!

Who can really tell, the secrets in each shell?  
There's enough of him to go around,  
Experimenting on the treasures I have found!

Every little piece!  
Every little piece!  
I can take a scissor and clip him up! rip him up!  
Every little part is a work of art,  
Think of what a dragon heart would bring!  
Such discoveries that I could sing!

Dr. Dementor winced as his assistant tore apart the Dragon with a gusto. The Hunstman stood by impassively, making sure that the beast was secured to the ground, as Anna's chainsaw revved. He was surprised she could sing over the sound of the beast's cries of agony. She insisted that the dragon be alive as she tore out its brain, 'as per Maleficent's orders'.

Dementor remembered the day he took in his assistant. Scar caught the orphan as she was trying to assassinate Adolf, with a bear trap and a hatchet. She claimed that it was because she wanted to study the mind of a criminal maniac, but the Nazis were burning all the rest and he was the only one she could find.

Johann and Dr. XXX took and instant liking to her, and assigned her to Dementor. Secretly, he suspected they knew he didn't quite sympathize with their views on science and made her his assistant so they could keep control over him. Luckily, he'd made a helmet before she could study his brain, and she still didn't know about Drew.

Though his eldest son, Ed, seemed to have developed a crush on her.

He sighed, as her manic bloodstained face drew in another breath for another verse.

Can dragon liver turn water to wine?  
Can dragon scales conduct heat?  
Is a dragon more avian, fish or swine?  
Every secret he holds is mine.  
Every secret he holds is mine!

Every little piece!  
Every little piece!  
Dragon, you're my wagon to destiny; you're the key,  
Every little shred moving me ahead!  
Every dream of mine will be fulfilled!  
And dragon all of your dreams will be killed!

The cannons on the walls started firing and she looked up. "What's that?"

"Just some dweebs in a flying ship." Eddie scoffed. Dementor looked sick as he watched his son's eyes roam over her bloodstains. "We'll take care of them."

Anna nodded, and went back to her work. She was careful to cut around the skull, so she could take the top off like a jar lid. The Dragon was still roaring in pain, but she liked it. The feeling of dragon blood drying on her skin as it was baked by the dragon's fire was oddly comforting.

Every little piece, and a little elbow grease,  
All lead me to the answers  
Of biology! Magicology!  
I'll see through magic's lies,  
And I'll win the Nobel prize!

I'll bind him up, grind him up  
Lop him up, chop him up  
How does Dragonology sound?

Oh, Dragon I'm so glad that you're around!

Dr. Dementor couldn't bear to see the poor girl be led away again by the Emberassment Ninjas. Their names sounded funny, but that was when one considered schoolboy pranks. They were proficient in those too, but Pete trained them in 'The Ultimate Emberassment'.

Still, anything was better than watching Anna tear the glowing brain out of the dragon's skull, while the dragon was still alive, screaming, in pain.

And then it went limp. The Huntsman cheered, and Anna lifted the orb into the air and did another little dance.

Every little piece, and a little elbow grease,  
All lead me to the answers  
Of biology! Magicology!  
I'll see through magic's lies,  
And I'll win the Nobel prize!  
I've bound him up, ground him up  
Lopped him up, chopped him up!

Suddenly, before she could finish, it started raining mice from above, coming at such a speed that they were on fire. One of the Huntsmen obligingly covered her with his shield as the burning rodents came down.

"What on earth is happening?" Anna asked.

* * *

With a flash of Peter ran leaped off of the battleship. It felt almost like flying, but it ended too soon. He shot out his hand and caught the edge of the anchor. He swung himself around, and balanced on top like a tightrope walker.

Shego was inches ahead of him, hanging upside down like a desperate sloth, and staring in awe at his maneuver. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jack Hook!" Peter proclaimed loudly. "I saw you coming down here to give this mean old oogie boogie a fight, and I thought I'd join you!"

"He's mine!" Shego grunted. "He killed my sister!"

"So?" Peter asked. "He doesn't have your name on him, does he?"

The Headless Horseman continued to crawl up.

Shego hissed. "He's mine!" She burned through the chains, and they fell to the ground. As shells burst around them, accompanied by the occasional barrage of dead mice and cutlery, Peter jumped down and followed her down on the chain.

* * *

A hand was all that was left sticking out of the trapped rug, and Alice's smile was all the wider for it. So much for the brave Christopher Robin.

She strode to the window, and watched her faithful bodyguard fall from the sky. She was impressed. Nobody had ever evaded the Horseman for this long.

Turning her physical essence into that of silver mist, she streamed out of the narrow window and joined her fellows in the courtyard. Ah, there was Dr. Dementor, still hiding his heritage, ducking away from the cross-fire. There were the embarrassment ninjas next to him, and Minnie was squirming in their arms traumatized after even the slightest of encounters with them. The Huntsmen, tucking away the now dead dragon. Her gleeful friend Anna, contemplating how best to seduce Dementor,

Ah, and there was her loyal Horseman rising up from the rubble. And boy, did he look angry. And his opponents, a little girl and a…

Well, what a surprise. A fairy born. He could grow up to be a star someday… or a demon.

She licked her teeth in anticipation. This was the one. This was the one the Star the mirror was talking about, she could sense it. The power radiated off of him, power beyond even hers or her brother, power almost equal to Chernabog!

If she could corrupt him… if she could corrupt him, then she would topple the Red Queen and take her throne.

Yes, he would make a very handsome king.

"You don't have to fight this on your own." Peter said, swinging his knife with a flourish. It was a very nice knife.

"Fine just stay out of my way!" Shego reached out, and green flame burst forth from her fingers.

A stray wisp of Alice's smoke got caught in its stream, and she pulled it back as it was burnt off. The girl hurt her. THE GIRL HURT HER! Demons were immortal! Nobody could hurt her, except for another Demon, or a Star.

She sniffed the flaming girl with her second nose, and she smelt something nothing along the fortieth radiance of the fragrance spectrum. No scent? If she couldn't smell it, then it wasn't Flash Magic, or Practical Magic, or even Demon or Star magic.

That meant… that either this girl had some form of science, some impossible form of science that could hurt a demon, something she'd only heard about in myths about Atlantis, or…

Or she had power from the Gods.

Alice involuntarily backed a step or two away from the mysterious green-skinned girl. Where did her power come from?

Suddenly she heard a clamor behind her. She saw a youth bewitched into a mouse-like form riding down on an enchanted broomstick. His hat, smelled like…

Ah, so he was bewitched and yet a wizard. She would have to inform Maleficent of this conundrum.

The mouse-boy zoomed forward on the broom, and raced in between the ninja. She grabbed the Minnie girl, and raced over to where the red-and-green were beating a hasty fighting retreat against her Horseman.

Mickey grabbed the two of them, and began to fly away, but the Horseman grabbed the tail end of the broom and threw them down.

"Stay back Mickey!" Peter yelled. "He's too strong!"

Mickey quivered. Alice smelt mouse magic. She laughed at the irony. "I... I…" the Horseman swung, and Mickey jumped out of the way barely in the nick of time.

"What are you doing?" Peter asked.

"T-trying to reason with it." Mickey stammered.

"Right, you think you can reason with an angry ghost?" Shego snarled. She'd burnt the demon's cape, but other than a few scuffs, it was almost untouched by their desperate assault.

Mickey took in a deep breath as the Horseman readied a blow to the neck.

"I know you're a servant demon! I demand by the Deep Laws of Magic to talk to your master!"

The Horseman froze. The sword quivered, an hair's breadth from Mickey's neck, separated from a decapitating blow only by the battle between the Deep Laws of Magic, and sheer unadulterated rage.

"I am here." Alice's smile grew broad.

Mickey gulped. "Uh… could you call off your Demon?" The sword was still uncomfortably close to his throat.

"And why would I do that?" Alice asked. "If you want to barter for your life, you're going to have to bring something of equal value to the table."

Mickey shuddered. He'd never met a demon before. Merlin had warned him that there was only one thing to do when he met a Demon; run. Merlin could probably take one, but what chance did Mickey have? Peter was part fairy, so he had a chance if he…

Mickey gulped again. "If you d-don't call off the attack, I'll kill Peter."

"My name's Jack!" Peter said, offended.

"That's your plan?" Shego almost screamed. Her eyes were still burning away her tears. "How can you be so stupid? Heroes aren't supposed to kill their teammates!" She shoved the thoughts of killing Hergo from her mind, repeating to herself over and over that she didn't kill her.

"I'm calling your bluff." Alice said with her trademark smile, though her eyes had lost their humor. "She won't kill him, and if you try, I'll have my horseman kill you."

"Wait." Peter said. "Are you saying… is me dying actually important to you?"

"No." Alice lied. If he died now… she could smell the good coming off of him. If he died now, he'd become a Star, and probably kill her. She had to wait until he turned to the dark side before she killed him.

Peter held his father's knife against his throat. "Then I'm taking myself hostage!"

"Mistress, please just let me kill them." The Horseman wailed hoarsely. "I long for blood on my blade."

Minnie *eep*ed, and buried herself in Mickey's robe. But Alice was concerned. Killing himself was dark, but not dark enough to make him turn demon. And would he actually do the deed?

She couldn't risk calling the Horseman off… but she also couldn't risk Maleficant's ire… She had to kill the royal families.

Nobody had seen Alice talking to the three of them yet (and that annoying little girl). She could get away with…

"Be gone." She said with a wave. "My Horseman shall not trouble you. Tell no one of our discussion."

"Mistress!" The Horseman wailed, but she silenced him, with a hundred flails slashing his soul. Imperceptible to the mortal plane, but the Horseman did his best not to cringe, and silently accepted her decision.

Mickey nodded, and hurried them onto the broom.

"I'll be back for you." Shego glared at the Horseman. "I'll kill you."

"Hey, why is she scared of me dying?" Peter asked Mickey.

"I'll tell you later." The four of them flew into the sky.

Alice watched them go, then turned to her Horseman. "You will have to play dead for a while my pet. I know you're angry, but you shall have your comeuppance, I assure you. But we will just have to be a bit more… subtle."

The Horseman nodded, and burst into flame, disappearing into Underland.

Anna rounded the corner to find Alice shaking. "They're more powerful than I imagined." She cried, putting on a performance worthy of Shakespeare. "I couldn't… they killed him."

* * *

"The Horseman won't bother us again." Mickey said, trying to detach the girl – Minnie she said her name was – from his robes. "At least… I think not."

"Well that's brilliant lad!" Captain Flynn laughed. "Adolf can do his worst, eh? We're one step ahead and off to Switzerland."

"Which star is Switzerland?" Peter asked, looking at the sky and wondering where they were going.

The King of Rodigan eagerly thanked Monogram, and promised him the banking of his kingdom. Naveen sheepishly accepted a small chastisement from his mother. Happy thoughts seemed to be flooding the ship, now that they were out of enemy territory.

Mickey stifled a small laugh himself. He supposed things were beginning to look up.


	12. Interlude Under The Sea

A/N: At first glance, the following chapters might not fit canon so much. There will be explinations for that later. The Island from Disney's Tailspin, is the same Island from Disney's Brandy & Mr. Whiskers, just at a later date. Yes, I am including Disney T.V. shows in this, and I am including Disney's japanese movies. Even though the japanese movies are really, seriously, well and truly wierd.

When I watched the movie Ponyo, I had nightmares. I now give those nightmares to you.

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

* * *

_Just Keep Swimming..._

* * *

Ariel sighed, and rubbed her temples. Three hundred years of experience didn't make being one of the Queens of Atlantica any easier. In fact, it just made things more difficult. Every time one of their sisters died, things got harder. And now, they were meeting today to discuss the death of their sister Arista. And no matter how angry she was at her senseless death, her sisters were making a royal mess of things.

"The human sub-marines are bombing our seas relentlessly!" Her eldest sister Andrina yelled. She was the most hard struck by Arista's death. "And now they've destroyed our settlement in Neverland! This can't be a coincidence! they're targeting us Ariel!"

"Yes, I know." Ariel said. "That's what I've been trying to tell you from the beginning."

"And you want to ally with them!"

Ariel grimaced. Sometimes Adrina would just miss the point entirely. "Yes! We're connected, us and the surface dwellers. If they're destroyed, then so are we! We can't just sit by and let this happen!" She had to make her sisters understand.

"But they're destroying us!" Aquata objected. The oldest of the four sisters, she was beginning to get wrinkles, but they only made her look more stately. "Are you saying that they are somehow more important than us?"

"I'm not saying that. I'm just saying, we have to distinguish between the different humans!"

"You mean between the human bombing us, and the humans alive when your husband Erik was alive?"

Ariel winced as Adrina's words cut her. "This has nothing to do with that. Up on the surface, the humans don't have one kingdom to rule over all of them. They're each ruled by separate kings, and kingdoms divided by lines in the sand instead of by water and air."

"What does this have to do with us Ariel?"

"You have to understand, they're not after us. They're after the other humans. They're just getting better at finding us, through devices called radars, and since they think mermaids don't exist, they believe we must be some enemy humans. They don't really want to destroy us."

"Ariel, all you're saying is, it's them or us." Aquata pointed out.

"N-no…"

"Ariel, whether or not they think we're humans or mermaids, we have to depend ourselves!"

"I know, but that doesn't mean we should just lash out at anybody in the seas!"

"Why not? What have the humans ever done for us? They caged the great and noble Sea goddess Calypso! They hunt fish for sport! The whales are almost gone, the sharks are almost gone, more than thirty different types of fish have been slaughtered, stolen from their place in the noble seas, and the humans haven't even noticed what they've done!" Aquata's scowl was darkening now, and Ariel cringed remembering the time she went to war with Devil Manta. Adrina was just an idiot. Aquata was smarter than Ariel, which made her much more terrifying when she thought that she was the righter of the two.

"I've told you…" Ariel tried to explain.

"Ariel." Her sister waved her silent. "We're not slighting Erik. We all think your husband was a great man, and the humans in those days… may not have been as bad as we thought. But the times have changed."

"They haven't." Ariel said. "Times never change. There are still good men, and bad men. Good mermaids, and bad mermaids."

"But we aren't bombing the surface dwellers!" Aquata roared. She took a deep breath, and spoke again in a quieter voice. "But maybe we should be."

"Sister." Adrina said. "I put forth that we call a loss of confidence in Ariel. She's obviously too close to the situation to see clearly."

"You're too far away to see clearly!" Ariel yelled, but Aquata silenced her again with the wave of her hand.

"I am… sorry, Ariel. Your council is usually good, and always well meant, but on this matter I have to agree with Adrina. Alana? What say you?"

Ariel turned to Alana. She was the second youngest next to Ariel, her hair a pure white instead of the silver Ariel's hair was slowly turning into, and the glow of a pregnant woman around her. She was always the meekest of the sisters, staying in the castle to run things instead of going out into the city to her adorers. Her husband sat by her side. Only four of her sisters ever got married, (Ariel secretly suspected Adrina was taking Arista's death so hard because the rumors of an affair between the two were true) and Janson was the only royal husband who remained.

Ariel looked imploringly at her sister. In order for any decision to be made, every princess must be in full agreement. If they all agreed on a loss of confidence for her, she wouldn't be included in the decision making process. She wouldn't be able to stop a full scale war, a war not seen since Atlantis went to war with Atlantica, and both kingdoms sunk beneath the waves.

Alana looked into Ariel's imploring eyes, then leaned her head so her husband could whisper in her ear. She sniffed a little, bowed her head.

"I'm sorry Ariel."

* * *

Melody waited in the main foyer. Her cousins were waiting with her, but none of them were swimming in worrying circles. Despite being the daughter of the youngest queen, she was the eldest of her cousins, so she would be the High Queen of the next generation once the last generation died. She didn't want to think that they may be dying a lot sooner in this war.

"Hey Melody, relax okay?" Kelvin, her Krill friend, trilled on his perch on her ear. "It'll all be okay."

Melody fiddled with the edge of her skirt. She was the only mermaid who wore a skirt, being the only mermaid who could transform into a human on land.

That last part made it hard for her to find suitors, either on land or sea. She'd just received news that her latest fiancée had died (and she had to force herself not to feel relieved to get out of an arranged marriage this way) along with her aunt Alarista.

The envoy of Merfolk from the Neverlands (only three survivors! Three!) had brought news of their deaths, and the deaths of the village there. She remembered them setting out, the day or so after she'd discovered she was part mermaid, for the new world. Given that mermaids could live for a thousand years, she knew she hadn't seen the last of them. But she hadn't been expecting for them to not age a day.

She couldn't get used to this. Her cousins, Aquata's sons, were still sword-fighting, and Adella's son was in the corner, eyes dull but alive. She wondered if they would feel differently if mermaids had tear ducts, but she could hardly bear the pain of losses. First her best friends died. They were a penguin, and a walrus, but Melody could hardly remember their names. Then Sebastion the crab, and Flounder. Meldoy remembered their names, because her mom talked about Sebastion often, and was good friends with Flounder's family. Then her dad… Erik…

Melody had tried to harden her heart. But that only made things worse, and she almost got killed by the Devil Manta. She'd almost wanted to be killed. Then she tried to makes friends as best as she could, but eventually she'd outlive all of them.

Her mother could remember the names of all of her friends. How could she live like that? Knowing each and every person she'd outlived?

"Melody, relax." Kelvin repeated. "Ariel will sort things out, you'll see. She always manages to sort these things out somehow."

Melody smiled lightly. "But even if she can stop a war, she can't save Arista. Can she?"

"You know, a friend of mine has a saying." Kelvin said. "Hakunah Mahtata."

"What does that mean?"

"It means no worries! Whatever's about to happen yet, there's nothing you can do about it, so it doesn't matter whether you're chilling out or swimming in circles. You never know what tomorrow will bring."

Suddenly, Ariel came swimming out of the conference hall. Melody swam up to her, but the know in her gut was growing as she saw the intense look of concern over her mother's face.

"Mom? Mom, what happened?"

Ariel gather Melody into a hug. "I'm sorry Melody, but they lost confidence in me."

Melody hugged her back. She knew what that meant. War was coming to Atlantica.

* * *

Scar mused over a glass of chianti in his submarine. HIS submarine. He had merely asked, and it was given to him. He hadn't even had to kill anyone… well, alright, he'd killed a few people, but he didn't know he would get a submarine at the time. Nor was he aware that he would get all the amenities, like the lion-skin rug, the caged little boy in the corner, the army that would jump when he said jump, the secret weapons. This was luxury.

He looked out the window, and saw the shimmering ocean floor smile back at him. When he was a lion, he'd never considered going near water. But now he was rather glad to be sailing along the ocean floor in his own submarine.

There was a knock on his cabin door, exactly when he knew there would be. He didn't make a stop on that island for nothing.

"Enter." He drawled. A group of five soldiers came in the room, four of them carrying a cage where a very restless tiger prowled.

Scare smiled. "Thank you. Close the door, but please remain on this side of it."

The lead soldier raised an eyebrow, but followed his instructions. The soldiers lined up qquietly against the wall, and the door shut. When you were in Scar's service, you learned the importance of following orders exactly and quickly, even when you had a bad feeling that it wouldn't end well for you.

The tiger snarled at him, and he poured another glass of Chianti. He walked towards the cage calmly, and offered the crystal glass to the tiger. "Hello Shere Kahn. Don't tell me you can't remember me after that time we spent together hunting elephants..."

The tiger stopped snarling, and sniffed at Scar. He was silent for a while, apparently stunned speechless. Then he snarled again, but with an air of uncertainty.

Scar looked lazily over to the boy in the cage. Pevensie or something. "Boy, what did he say?"

The boy gulped. "H-he said that you can't be Scar."

Scar chuckled. "Yes, I have changed somewhat since last we met." The Tiger backed away from Scar. "For one thing, I'm human. I had to find a human who understands animals in order to talk to you. And you have no idea how rare those are."

Shere Kahn snarled. Scar looked to the boy again. "h-he s-said…"

"No more 'he said's thank you. Just translate as he speaks."

"Uh-um… Release me f-from this cage or I'll kill you where you stand, and y-you know I can."

"You know Kahn…" scar looked at him with a mischievious glint in his eyes. "I think it's rather appropriate that your words are being voices by a little man-child."

Kahn snarled and leaped at Scar, swiping at him through the bars of the cage. Scar sighed, just out of reach. "You know, you just spilled a perfectly fine glass of chianti."

Scar stood. He wore no shoes, liking the feeling of his bare feet. Of all the annoyances he put up with being human, shoes were the worst. At least he only had to wear them in the presence of Hitler. "Kahn, look at yourself. When last we met, you were more feared than legions of Hyenas. Then you let some man-child tie a torch to your tail?"

Kahn snarled. "M-m-m-mowgli was a f-fluke!"

"Yes, I heard he was a fluke twice. Was it also a fluke when you were so hungry for a meal, you let another man-child trap you in a pit?"

"I-it was a better v-vantage point to k-kill pirates."

"The Shere Kahn I knew would have killed two whole crews, without needing a vantage point. The next thing I hear, you're some sort of gangster? That island where a dog and a bunny tried to create a new civilization… where Balloo flew a plane of all things! You must be glad we razed it."

Shere Kahn growled. "Begrudgingly."

"I must admit I was surprised, but it all made sense. You fear man…"

"S-shere Kahn f-fears nothing…"

"You fear man! Because man has fire. Man has guns. And tigers can't use either." Scar leaned in close. Time to bait the trap. "What would you say, if I said you could?"

The tiger cocked his head. "I'm l-listening."

"I was transformed into a human." Scar said. "You can too."

"W-why would I w-want to be man?"

"Because of this." At lightning speed, Scar's arm lashed out, and a hiddein knife embedded itself inside one of the soldier standing by. They gasped and supported their comrade as he began to bleed to death.

"I'm not sure why, I've never been a fighter in life. At a guess, I'd say humans build to survive, while animals kill to survive. And if I can do things that make the world's fighters think I'm a prodigy… imagine what you could do in a human body?"

Kahn growled. "Y-you hope to d-declaw me?"

"Humans have many different claws Kahn. There are guns, swords, knives, cannons, whips. They've even learned how to fight with fire. And… well, let's face it, you're old. It's a miracle you're as active at you are at your age. You really should be dead. But humans live for a long, long time."

Kahn mulled it over.

Scar smiled. "You've lost a great deal of pride since last we met, Kahn. Let me help you reach the top of the food chain again."

"D-d-deal." Scar smiled. "Excellent. And, as per our past agreements, I will release you from this service once we've won the war. You will be a free tiger again."

"First, g-get m-me out of this c-cage."

"Promise not to bite?"

"O-only if I'm b-bitten first."

Scar slid the latch to the cage open, and Kahn stepped out.

"Sir!" Scar sighed. It was obviously one of the younger soldiers. One who didn't know to obey him yet. "Oberlueitenant! Francis needs a doctor now!"

Scar grinned at Kahn, showing off his canines. "Kahn, as a first step to restoring your pride… well, these are the men who captured you yes? Go wild."

Kahn roared the terrible, savage roar of a tiger, and lunged at his prey. Scar sighed happily, sipping his chianti as the screams mixed with the phonograph's music. This was turning into a rather marvelous day. He pressed the intercommunication button. "Captain, are we there yet?"

The captain, loyal man that he was, ignored the screaming in the background. "Almost Herr Scar. If you look out of the window, you will see it at any moment."

"Marvelous." Scar drawled. "Deploy the Ponyos at your discretion Captain."

"Ja vol. Heil Hitler."

Scar close communications and turned to where Kahn was disemboweling his men. "Kahn, when your done you should really look out the window. There's something I think you'll enjoy watching."

* * *

Clef swam through the water around Atlantis. He tried not to think about the past, and his mother's death, and to the future. If they went to war, would he be better at the front lines, or behind. He knew his other cousins were far better fighters than him. He was the youngest after all. Even Melody, peaceful as she was, could still wrestle him to the ground.

But she wouldn't go to war, and he really, really wanted to kill some of those disgusting, two legged humans.

"Ponyo."

He stopped and looked around. Who could that be?

"Ponyo."

Suddenly he felt a slick sludge on his arm. "Eeugh." He wiped the sickly green sludge off, and was about to leave, when he saw it. It was unlike any fish he'd ever seen before. It had huge bulbous eyes, a bright red body, but with parts of it the same color as his skin. There seemed to be, hair? Hari growing on top of the fish, and it looked almost like it was wearing a filmy dress. But that was probably just his imagination. Only Melody wore dresses.

He turned to leave, when he stopped. Not because he wanted to, but because he felt compelled to. He felt a laugh slowly growing in his throat, but he couldn't find anything funny. Then the strange fish swam right in front of him, bulbous eyes looking into his own.

"Ponyo?"

And then it spat a huge glob of green sludge right into his face.

Clef pulled the sickening sludge off of him, only to realize he only had one hand. The other hand was attached to a stumpy arm. He realized it was the arm that the sludge hit. He looked at the hand he's used to wipe it off, and it was slowly loosing its fingers.

"Hahahahaha…" In a panic, he opened his mouth to scream, and the laughter escaped. "Whahahahahaha… what's hahahahappening! Whahahahat did youhoo doooowahahahahahaha!"

"Ponyo!" The fish cheered, as he collapsed on the ocean floor, writhing in pain. Suddenly, he couldn't see straight any more. His eyes were growing bigger, and the world was growing brighter, and… was it just him or could he hear his mother's voice?

"Clef… Clef, welcome back son…"

He wanted to say something, anything to her. So he did.

"Ponyo!" He called out to his mother. "Ponyo!"

"Oh Clef, I'm so proud of you. What a fine little Ponyo you'r becoming…"

Clef looked at himself, and suddenly realized that the majority of his body was turning into a strange fish.

"Ponyo!" He cried in a panic.

"Oh son, I know you're going through some changes, but don't worry. Soon everybody will be going through the same changes. You'll not be alone."

The lights faded, and he couldn't feel his body. Clef tried to move, to do anything, but it felt like he was paralyzed. He could move his lips, he realized. He tried to call for help.

"Ponyo!"

Did that… did that come from his mouth?

"Ponyo!" That came from both his mouth, and the other fish's mouth. It sounded like a… greeting.

Then he heard the laughter. The deep, menacing laughter. He was old enough to have heard it once before… it was the laughter of the Devil Manta.

"Come on then!" He laughed. "One down, more to go!"

"Ponyo!" Help! Help!

"Ponyo." He heard another fish say. Relax brother.

"Ponyo!" That's the Devil Ray!

"Ponyo." Brother, that is the least of your worries.

"Ponyo?" What?

Ponyo." You're a Ponyo now. Don't tell me you've never heard the stories?

"Ponyo?" What stories?

"Ponyo." It doesn't matter. Nothing matters. And soon you'll feel the same way.

Clef couldn't stand the finality of that statement. He heard trumpets from Atlantis, and merfolk swam out, swords at the ready. Clef realized that there were more fish in his group, all looking exactly the same. Why couldn't he stop smiling?

"Ponyo!" Look out! These fish are dangerous!

"Everybody, use your shields to the fullest!" He saw his Aunt Aquata leading the merfolk with the Trident of the Sea. "If they spray you, you'll turn, and then we'll have another Ponyo to fight!"

What? Clef shuddered. Couldn't the trident reverse his plight?

Suddenly, he realized he was swimming around the line, through a pass through the kelp that only he know about. He gasped, as he emerged right behind his Aunt Aquata and spat right on the back of her head.

"Ponyo!" No! No! Now she'd turn into one of the fishes!

She cried out, and spun around. The last thing he saw was his aunt pointing the Trident at him. The last thing he thought was; _wait, why does this matter?_

"Foul creature!" She blasted him into oblivion.

"Ponyo!" A couple of the Ponyos commented on how lucky he was, before they went on converting the mermaids.

* * *

Melody swam through the spiraling columns of Atlantica as fast as her fins could propel her.

Ponyos! She was old enough to have heard the stories, and seen the carnage of the last Ponyo war. Ponyos were feared creatures, preying on merfolk before Atlantica was even established. They were the spirits of dead merfolk, come back to life through some foul process and carrying on their disease of unlife onto their former friends and family.

She'd thought that they were all destroyed the last time Devil Manta had tried to conquer Atlantica. But apparently, one of them had slipped through their nets.

"Melody!" She immediately swam towards the voice of her mother. "Melody, where are you?"

"I'm here!" She called back. "Mom, I'm –" As she swam around the corner, she came face to face with the Devil Manta.

"Melody, there you are!" She said in her mother's voice.

Melody about faced immediately. She'd went through years of swimming through hoops, through sunken shipwrecks, through underwater lava fields, and through iceburgs, but somehow it wasn't enough. The Devil Manta engulfed her in one massive fist.

Melody curled herself into a tight ball and tried to be as solid as a rock. If Devil Manta squeezed even slightly, she knew she'd be crushed, but she also knew that she couldn't wriggle out, so she was going to do her best to survive.

The pressure began to mount, and she gritted her teeth with the effort of trying to stay alive.

Suddenly, the pressure lightened and a gap appear between his fingers. Without even thinking, Melody swam out.

Her mother was holding a smoking Trident, and the Devil Manta's other hand was clutching a burn mark on his chest. "Come on Melody!" Ariel said. "We have to swim!"

They swam, as they heard the Devil Manta's laughter behind them. "You can run, but you'll just die tired!" He called out, and somehow his normal voice was even scarier then when he was imitating her mother.

"Mom, what's the plan?" Melody asked. She noticed that her mom had Aunt Aquata's trident. That was another Aunt dead.

"We get you three out of here." Melody's cousins, Fuji and Moto, swam up behind them.

"What about you?"

"I'm not important any more. Here." They reached her room, and Ariel pressed a button, removing the Melody's vanity to reveal a secret passageway.

"Fuji, Moto, right now the merfolk are deserting Atlantica, with only a few staying to hold off the Ponyos." Ariel said. "You two need to run too. Go down this tunnel and just keep swimming until you reach the other side. Be on your guard, stay safe, and gather the merfolk up again." She held out crowns to the two of them.

"But you're not dead yet!" Moto protested. "We can't be kings!"

"I have to stay behind and look for Clef." Ariel said sternly. "It's your turn to lead now. I'm sorry, but it is."

"What about me?" Melody asked, a sneaking suspicion coming up in her mind. "I'm the oldest, shouldn't I lead our people?"

Ariel sighed. "I'm sorry Melody, but you're older, so I have something more difficult for you." She held out a red armband, with a black and white marking on it. "Devil Manta was wearing this. The people who wear this mark are fighting above and below the sea. If we're going to survive this, we're going to have to ally with the surface kingdoms who oppose this sign."

"Right." Melody nodded and took her crown. She was scared, but she was also a princess. She'd met danger face to face before.

"By the power invested in me, I hereby declare you High Queen of Atlantica, by blood, by mind, by heart. I also do hereby declare you two Kings of Atlantica." When those words were said to Ariel and her sisters, they were said solemnly, and there was much rejoicing. She said the words to them in a rush.

"Take these compasses." She took out two compasses, and gave one to Melody and the other to Fuji. "They'll guide you wherever you want. Melody, take the Trident, you know who to look for to start your journey. Now go. If I become a Ponyo, I'll betray where you're heading without a second thought, so just keep swimming and scatter when you reach the end."

Fuji and Moto went down the tunnel first. Melody hesitated a second longer.

"I love you mom."

"I love you too Melody. Now swim Melody! Swim!"

Melody swam.

Ariel closed the secret passage, and looked around. Grabbing a scimitar, she rushed out of the room.

"Ponyo!"

And that was when she knew she'd never find Clef. The Ponyos were gather in a swarm almost as large as a pod of whales. It was a wall of bulbous eyes and disturbing smiles. And they were all swimming directly at her.

"Just keep swimming." She muttered. Aquata had asked her to kill her. But she had nobody to kill her if she was turned. She'd betray her daughter, no matter what. She'd just have to make sure less Ponyos were chasing her.

With a terrified scream, she swam towards the Ponyos, scimitar swinging, even as she was ungulfed in green slime.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Ponyo. Ponyo! _Ponyo! **Ponyo! P0NY0!**_**_PONYO!_**


	13. Interlude Between You And Me

A/N: Just so you know, even though this is the Disney World, works that aren't Disney still exist. So in the future, Disney characters can quote Star Wars, or Star Trek, or whatever. This is why James Bond and Doctor Who are referenced. They are a fiction in this world's future, nothing more. Although, if anybody does make a Mary Poppins/Doctor Who crossover, please tell me.

For a long time, I've considered Bert to be the spirit of London. A Genus Loci so to speak. He just represents all of the ideals of common London. He is everything britain should be. I've portrayed him as such here, but if the Nazi invade the U.K., what it means to be British will change, and thus so will he.

Bear with me as I rant for a moment here, but is it just me, or is Pair Of Kings the worst Disney show ever? I think it's because of the unfullfilled potential. The show has a budget rivalling the early Doctor Who shows, they could easily create an epic saga of two boys from modern day America trying to be the prophecied kings of a strange land. But instead of a season-long hero's journey, we get two punks who act like idiots and pretend it's comedy. There is a chance for some really tense and dramatic stories. But instead of telling the story of how the two kings find a lost monster in the woods, keep him as a pet, and help everybody understand that he's not really a monster, they have two kids bumbling onto a monster, treating him like a dog, then ditching him when the responsibility is two great. It's horrible.

On another note, I have discovered that the Lost Tales Of Fantasia has entries under it on TvTrope's Nightmare Fuel and Awesome Moments pages for fanfiction. Also, my other story Harry's Eleven and the Dark Knights has an entry under Funny Moments. Not only that, but I am listed under their crossover fanfic reccomendation section. I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to whichever fan thought my stories were good enough that they would reccomend them to others.

I hope you all enjoy this latest installment of the story. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

* * *

_Obviously, the clones must be imperfect. I cannot imagine myself with a sense of ethics._

* * *

Bert sighed as he strolled along London Bridge in an army uniform.

He felt the wind change, and picked up his pace. He whistled a jaunty tune and even skipped once or twice.

"Bert?" He stopped and smiled as Mary Poppins descended from heaven like an angel.

"Mary Poppins, is it just me or do you get more beautiful with every passing visit?"

"Oh Bert you flatterer." She landed and smoothly folded up her umbrella. "How are things?"

Bert shrugged happily. "A bit of rain, a bit of shine. Overall, I'm feeling fine."

Mary smiled, tight-mouthed. "Were you trying to start a musical just then?"

"I might've been." Bert grinned.

"Oh, Bert." Mary hugged him. "How are you Bert?"

"Right as rain." Bert grinned. "I mean, there's a war going on and all. But we won't let that stop us, eh? I mean, I'm the spirit of Britain. And maybe if the Nazis come over here and kick the tar out of me, maybe then Britain will have to have a new spirit. Maybe the age of adventurers, and crackpot scientists, and chimney sweeps is coming to an end. But I'll keep buggering on. And these fascists' will have to stop mucking about sending bombers over, and come here themselves for a fight before that happens. Meanwhile, I'll carry on with a smile on me face and a tune on me lips."

Mary smiled. "That's not all you'll have on your lips Bert." She leaned over and kissed him.

"Why Mary Poppins." Bert grinned. "Out in public too?"

"I see no reason why not." Mary grinned. "We are changing Bert. The definition of 'practically perfect' no longer means I must hide my affection in public. And I notice Britain's Spirit has gotten a lot more eloquent since Churchill became Prime Minister."

Bert grinned. "I reckon you're right there Mary Poppins. Do you know… I saw the future the other day."

"Did you?" She grinned.

"Yup. You were travelling through time and space in an old police box, wearing clothes I never thought I'd ever see you in. The definition of perfect will be changing, and I'll be changing right along with you."

She leaned over and kissed him again. "But don't change too fast."

"Are you kidding?" He smiled a cheeky grin. "Those Nazis'll have to drag me out of 'ere kicking an' screaming before I change."

Mary smiled. "Well, I'd best leave you to your post then. I have a meeting to attend to make sure the Nazis don't drag you anywhere, whether or no you kick and scream." She adjusted his collar. "The uniform doesn't suit you."

"Well, maybe someday you can help me take it off?" Bert grinned.

"How cheeky." Mary Poppins unfolded her umbrella. "I will see you on Sunday, for a picknick. You will be there at precisely eleven O'Clock. And you will bring puddings." She let the wind carry her away. "Don't you be late!"

Bert grinned and waved her goodbye with his helmet.

"You realize you lied to her right."

Bert sighed again, and put his helmet back on. "She knows I lied. She always knows. She lets me do it because she knows it makes me feel better."

"So she realizes you never said you were in the police box with her?"

"It doesn't change a thing." Bert said. "I'm the spirit of Britain. No matter how much I love Mary, I won't leave my post."

"But you know you won't be the spirit of Britain for long." A tall man with dark black hair came out of the shadows. How he managed to hide in there while wearing a white tuxedo, Bert would never know. "I'm already close."

"Like I said." Bert grinned a cheeky grin. "Those Nazi's will have to drag me out of 'ere kicking an' screaming… before you take my job James."

The man in the tuxedo sipped a martini that had somehow gotten into his hand. "We'll see. Nature takes its own course after all."

He disappeared back into the shadow, and Bert continued whistling a rather muted 'God Save the Queen'.

* * *

Lord Fisk sat in the comfortable lounge of the Swiss Embassy. He looked straight into the eyes of the Swiss Prime Minister, Sir. Francis Robinson.

"You do realize that you have several important hostages inside your country don't you?" Fisk asked.

"As I've said before, Switzerland is remaining neutral in this war."

"How is it Neutral to give sanctuary to a collection of royal family members, and enemies of the empire?"

"Is that what the mouse kid is?" Sir Francis shrugged. "I'm afraid I don't keep track of who wants to kill who these days. There are just too many murderers to count."

"I've been ordered to kill them."

Sir Francis leaned forward. "Now… that could be a problem. Because I won't let you."

"How is this neutrality?"

"Simple. As long as you're staying in Switzerland, I won't let anybody kill you either. You Nazis just don't want to take advantage of our neutrality."

Fisk sighed. "Listen, what will you do if Hitler decides to invade?"

Sir Francis thought about it. "Well, I can have over ten thousand men in the mountains on our first day. The second day, I could have everyone else. We have more than enough guns and ammunition to go around. And let's not forget that the entire country is surrounded by mountains we know like the back of our hands, but you don't."

Fisk was sweating now, and Sir Francis made a soft clicking noise and motioned with his hand. A monkey came in through the open window, and climbed onto his shoulder. "Do you remember the story of how I got this monkey?" Sir Francis asked. "My family was stranded on a desert island once. We made a good life for ourselves, including a treehouse. But we attracted the attention of some pirates. Naturally, with only six of us against hundreds of them we were sure to lose. But we knew the terrain, and we knew how to use it to our advantage."

"If your troops advance, they'll be buried in a landslide. They'll find towers in the mountains with nets stretching across them too high for a plane to fly over. They'll fall into pits filled with spikes and wild animals. Half of your force would be dead before you even met our troops. And even if you used some magical artifacts or new scientific values, or even if you were to sick a demon on us, we have our own secret weapons."

Sir Francis looked directly into Fisk's eyes. "The Robinson family and the Fisk family have been friends for a long time, so I'm going to tell you this once. While your blitzkrieg may work on the smaller and less prepared countries, going to war with Switzerland is a worse idea than bombing America, or going to war with Russia in the winter. There's a reason why Switzerland stays out of wars that are none of our business. We have the high ground. So back off Monty."

The austere lord let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He'd grown up hearing of his friends exploits with pirates, but he hadn't considered it could extend to Switzerland. But looking on it now, Switzerland was the perfect place to set up a defensive, and he did see some strange looking towers outside of the window on the zeppelin ride there…

The monkey crawled off of Sir Francis' shoulder, and offered Lord Fisk a biscuit. "Monty… why are you here?"

Fisk looked back up into Sir Francis' eyes. "I thought monkey magic enhanced one's sense of freedom. Why are you serving under that kraut?"

Fisk sighed. "You wouldn't understand Francis. I'm sorry to have troubled you." He got up and left, patting the monkey on the head as he went.

Sir Francis fed his pet half an almond seed and wondered at the meeting he'd just had. There were many questions he would've liked to ask Fisk. They'd known each other for a long time, and he felt he could get a good feel for the lord. So now he had to ask a few questions about why his old friend was acting so contrary to how Francis thought he would. As always when he was thinking, he turned to his monkey to ask the hard questions.

"So Jack… what's so important about the little mouse boy that Lord Fisk would stoop to serving anybody just to kill him?"

* * *

Alice was glad of Anna's company over the course of their carriage ride. Not many mortals had the will or fortitude to withstand long periods of exposure to a demon of her caliber. But Anna seemed as nonchalant as ever.

Anna chalked it down to simply knowing her mind. The mind was one of the greatest mysteries in all of science, and she intended to study every lobe thoroughly. As Hitler so aptly demonstrated, if you can manipulate enough people's minds, you can do anything.

"And then the poor child asked me to marry him!" Anna laughed at the idea.

Alice smirked. She was all too familiar with the inept flirtations of the clueless. "If you were to marry someone, who would you prefer? Perhaps I can find a good demon for you… my brother is single."

"No, I wouldn't want to marry a demon." Anna said. "I'm looking for a nice rocket scientist to settle down with."

Alice was amused. "So it has nothing to do with his type, but how smart he is?"

Anna shrugged. "Finding a couple is supposed to be an act of yin and yang. There's a very precise balance to be struck; protective with shy, competent with funny. But I believe I am perfectly one with myself. I only want to find a relationship for two reasons; physical intimacy, and creating a healthy family environment for my children. Obviously, a demon would be out of the question for the second criteria, but a rocket scientist would not only allow me a nice brain to experiment on once in a while, but a healthy gene pool for my children to enjoy."

Alice snickered. "I didn't think you were the motherly type."

"I've always been fond of children." Anna smiled. "There are very few things that make sense, but being a mother is one of them."

There was a knock on the carriage door. "We're here." The Headless Horseman hissed. The rage that was still coming off of him was palpable.

"Farewell Anna." Alice bid her goodbye. "You will have to tell me the rest of the story when next we meet."

"That's a promise." Anna said, allowing the Horseman to lift her down and set her on the ground. She took out her umbrella, and moved towards the ruins as the carriage flew off behind her.

The Kinkow islands were discovered by Johann Schmidt in his scientific adventures, and he claimed them for his own. Now it was being used as the secret head base of Hydra, the Nazi scientific division. The bleak islands were supplied with everything they needed for their experiments, as well as a regiment of the Reich's finest soldiers, that they experimented on every now and again to be stronger.

Anna's own projects was on one of the minor islands; she'd taken Jewish slaves, increased their intelligence, and watched the resulting society thrive. Of course, after the fifth attempted jailbreak, they were going to have to terminate the project, but it was fine work if she said so herself.

She strode up to the stone castle, where a fish in a robotic skeleton waited for her. "Dr. XXX is waiting for you inside." He gurgled.

"Thank you Mr. Yamakoshi." She said, and she and the fish went back into the castle. Yamakoshi was the result in an experiment to find the key to immortality. They found the immortality, unfortunately the formula only worked on fish.

They walked into the Main Laboratory, just in time for Dr. XXX to come running out in glee. "Anna! Anna! I've done it! It's a breakthrough!"

"What have you done?" Anna asked, trying to recall which of the fifteen projects Dr. XXX was working on before she'd left with Dementor.

In answer, another Dr. XXX ran out of the room. "Duplicates plantus!" He cheered. "We can support the reich with new, fresh, fully trained troops forever!"

The first Dr. XXX looked back at him in shock. "Is that what we're doing?"

"Yes, of course."

"But… but consider the ethics man! You're basically sending babies out to fight a war and die!"

Dr. XXX frowned. "Obviously, the clones must be imperfect. I cannot imagine myself with a sense of ethics. Mr. Shaw?"

The fish rammed a robotic fist through the copy's brain.

"I'll work on a way to ensure that the copies are all inherently violent and fascist." Anna supplied. Although she wasn't happy with the possibility of a kinder Dr. XXX being killed. His 'ethics' might hinder him, but in the long run he could have advanced society far into the future.

"Ah, that would be wonderful." Dr. Frankenollie leaped out of the laboratory. Dr. Frankenollie was a monkey. And the reason why Dr. Dementor always wore a helmet when Anna was around. "I did hope that this time would be the charm. Ah well. How were things on the front lines?"

"We've brought some new bodies back to experiment on." Anna said with a smile. "And also a pleasant surprise… a dragon!"

"How did you manage that?" Yamakoshi asked.

"Yes…" Frankenollie licked his lips eagerly. "I thought al dragons were supposed to be sent to Maleficent if possible, or immediately lobotomized if not."

"They were." Anna nodded. "And I did lobotomize the poor thing. You should've seen the look on Dementor's face."

Dr. XXX tsked. "He's soft."

"He is. Regardless, when I took the dragon's brain to Maleficent, she told me she wanted to bring this dragon back to life."

"Why would she need that?" Yamakoshi wondered.

"Apparently she uses her dragon brains to focus her magic. I have a theory that magic is just mental energy transmitted through the nervous system and then through the focus of the dragon's mind, and then…"

"Ahem." Dr. XXX coughed pointedly.

"Right. Regardless, this particular dragon happens to be a favored daughter of hers. Mim-something. Apparently, Merlin once infected her with a disease that effected her brain and made her be kind, protective, and generous."

Anna got a far-away look in her eye. "To think that Merlin, a sorcerer, would be knowledgeable about medicine to effect the mind like that…"

"I have Mim frozen in the back. We're to reattach the brain, bring her back to life, restrain her, and bring her back to life. High priority."

"That sounds like a lot of pain." Yamakoshi gurgled. "We need to work on other projects if we're going to win the war. Why don't we just kill her, blame it on one of the soldier mooks we have running around this place, and study the corpse?"

Dr. XXX grew enraged, and grabbed Yamakoshi with his gorilla arm. "How dare you!" He roared. "You want to just abandon this priceless opportunity, simply because you think it's too much hassle! HOW DARE YOU CALL YOURSELF A SCIENTIST!"

"A chance to bring something, and a dragon no less, back to life?" Frankenollie shook his head. "Yamakoshi, this is every scientist's dreams."

"A chance to practically apply my prototype attitude-inator." Anna muttered. "Our names would be synonymous with science."

"HOW DARE YOU!" Dr. XXX tossed the robotic body to the ground, shattering the goldfish bowl head, and making Yamakoshi splutter helplessly on the ground. "GET OUT OF MY SIGHT WORM! THIS ISLAND IS FOR SCIENCE! THE GREATEST FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE! THE FORCE THAT GAVE YOU IMMORTALITY! WE HAVE BROKEN DOWN THE BARRIERS BETWEEN SCIENCE AND FICTION, AND IF YOU CANNOT RESPECT THAT, THEN YOU ARE NOT WORTH THE AIR YOU BREATH!"

"I… can't… breath…" Yamakoshi gasped.

"The price of immortality, scum." Dr. XXX spat on the fish. "There's some water for you. Now get back to work on your little war machines. You've lost your dragon priveleges."

The three of them walked on, leaving Yamakoshi to flop back to his robotic frame. "You were too rough on him." Anna sighed.

"Be thankful Johann wasn't around." Frankenollie laughed like a hyena.

"Where is Johann?" Anna asked.

"Oh, he's still upset that Erskine left. He's trying to improve upon the super-soldier serum we've been working on."

"I must see him at once. I've been going over the serum's formula, and I've uncovered a side-effect that would effect the mind, propelling characters traits to their extremes. With some work, we can isolate the effect, and I believe we could further the study of the mind with the findings."

"Too late…"

Johann strode up to the trio, and Frankenollie recoiled in horror. Despite walked firmly, he was clearly exhausted. His face was… melting. The skin was sizzling in part, and dripping off of his skull, which seemed to be taking on a red hue.

"Good heavens man, you tested the formula on yourself!" Frankenollie screeched.

"I Commend your attitude towards your work." Dr. XXX grinned like a madman. "How do you feel?"

Johann smiled, and tore his nose off. "Improved. Now… I believe I heard something about side effects Anna?"


	14. The Magician's Council

A/N: Okay, so the first thing I want to address is the spelling and grammar mistakes. Lost Tales of Fantasia was, in what I thought at the time was a scathing 'take that', published without any editing. Everything you see here, is fresh off the presses. Originally, this was meant to be a parody of darkfics, and I thought since other darkfics are horribly written, this would be too. After re-reading, I've realized that I was a bit of a fool when I started this story. Of particular note, I've realized that I've never explained why Peter keeps calling himself Jack (His dad, Hook, wanted to name him Jack, but his mom, Tinkerbell, wanted to name him Peter. Since both his parents just died, he's going through an identity crisis, and has hung up Peter for now in favor of Jack). I'm in the process of moving house right now, among other obligations of a busy life, but I promise I'll go back and edit those chapters once I get the free time.

The next issue I wish to address: It had recently come to my attention that Disney owns several Power Rangers franchises. I said this story would incorperate all of Disney. I've even included Studio Ghibli. So will I include Power Rangers? Yes. Unfortunately. Don't worry, they'll show up in Small World University instead of Lost Tales, and they will not show up for long.

Also, a lot of references in this one, so you may want to warm up the Disney Wiki. Binx is from Hocus Pocus, Fasir is from Alladin's Animated Series, and Springshine is from Fantasia 2000. Oh, and yes, SPOILERS! in this world Mother Gothel is just an older version of Snow White. SPOILER ENDS!

* * *

_Getting into trouble is always a good thing._

* * *

The cold, unyielding office of the O.W.A.C.A.'s chief muppet always scared Shego a little. It didn't scare her much though. Nothing scared her much after that… monster.

No, what Shego was, was angry. Very angry. Angry that this creepy little muppet could saunter up to her in his cold dark office and try to intimidate her by being a grown up.

Said Muppet, Major Monogram, was standing directly in front of her, and up a bit. He looked down on the little girl in pigtails. "You're out of uniform, Ms. Go."

Shego hissed at him from behind flaming green eyes. "My name isn't Go. My name is Wu. And I like dresses."

"Well you're a superhero now, Shego, and superheroes wear skintight latex." Muppets didn't have very much expression. But Major Monogram was very adept at leering.

Shego was still too innocent to know what that leer meant. But she still didn't like it.

"Well, maybe I don't want to be a hero."

"Don't be ridiculous." Monogram scoffed. "You have superpowers. That means you have responsibilities. You can either be a hero, and dress up in a colorful costume, or…" He glared at her. "You become a villain, and you make the heroes look good by putting up a fight when they arrest you."

Shego shivered. Somehow he seven-year-old mind managed to comprehend the sheer wrongness of a grown man telling a girl that she would be arrested if she didn't do what he said. Somehow, she was also able to comprehend the inflection that he was telling her he'd send her own family to arrest her.

She gathered up her courage. "So living a normal life isn't even an option for me?"

"No." Major Monogram said sternly. "You're a freak Shego. You can't live a normal life. You can only be hated, or make people love you by saving their lives in a colorful costume. The King of Rodigan approved approved of us after we saved him, and the O.W.A.C.A. is now an official crime-fighting organization, recognized by the United Nations. We're leaving Switzerland tomorrow." He pointed to the door. "And I expect you to be in full uniform."

Shego bowed her head in shame, and left. As she walked through the door, she was surprised to find a handkerchief floating in front of her.

"What…" She realized tears were dripping from her eyes. "Oh… thanks."

She took the handkerchief, revealing the small fairy. "We heard you through the door." Iridessa said. "I thought you could use this."

Shego looked at the handkerchief. She didn't need it. Her eyes hadn't stopped burning since the day her big sis died. "We?"

"We." She almost jumped, when she turned around and saw Peter – Jack – lurking behind the door.

"He was wrong you know." The pirate boy said. "You're not a freak."

"Says the junior pirate who runs around with a fairy and a magic mouse."

"Yeah." Peter beamed. "Says me."

Shego came to another realization. "You have no idea what the word 'freak' means, do you?"

"It means something bad." Peter said, as if this was obvious. "Is that guy your dad?"

Shego gulped. "No."

"Then why do you listen to him?"

"Because I don't want my family to try and arrest me." A new wave of tears surged up, and she was forced to dab her eyes with the handkerchief.

Peter looked at her. He though Shego was very strange. Not that he expected anything else from a girl. Wendy and Jane were both stranger then anything, besides maybe Tinkerbell. He missed Tinkerbell. She'd always come up with clever solutions. But he knew that Shego's problems had two, really obvious solutions. One of them, challenging the old guy to a fight, didn't seem like something Shego would like. Well, maybe she would like it, he could hardly tell with girls. But the other one… the other one Peter really liked. It had just the right taste of mischief to it.

He extended his hand to the distraught girl. "Run away with me." He said, his voice filling with excitement and adventure for the first time in months.

* * *

Prince Naveen found himself in an extraordinary position. He had been a tour guide many times before. He'd seen many sights, and was eager to share any good times to be had with his friends. This time, however, instead of showing some old friends around hot spots for le femme, he was guiding four very conspicuous youths through Geneva, trying not to let anybody notice them – or him – as they went to make a business call.

It was uncomfortable, being out in the streets in disguise. It was very uncomfortable not being the center of attention. But… this may be his chance to see Tiana again. So he could swallow his pride.

"Are you sure you want to do this Mickey?" Naveen asked. "I admit, I do not have as much experience with… magic… as you have. But I don't like the sound of this wizard."

"We've been though Helsinki's entire library, and we haven't found anything." Mickey looked around nervously. "We need more information on the Order of Fantasia, and if anybody knows, it'll be another powerful wizard."

"Well, I don't know about Merlin, but I do know that this is Switzerland's most powerful wizard." Naveen chuckled. "Well, Switzerland's only wizard. But from what Mr. Robinson tells me, he's one of the best." He pointed. "This is the address."

They walked up to a door in the street. Mickey's mouse magic had a wide range of senses, but he couldn't see anything unique about the door. Not that Merlin had bothered to… fine tune his senses…

"Is it a magic door?" Shego asked.

"No." Mickey said. "Or, maybe. Maybe the wizard's so powerful I can't tell."

"I thought you were the best?" Peter asked. "Weren't you trained by the most powerful wizard ever?"

Mickey coughed and 'ahemed'. "Well, 'train' might be too strong a word."

Prince Naveen was even more nervous after hearing that, but he knocked on the door anyway.

Suddenly, Mickey sensed something. It was difficult to describe; like someone standing behind you. You could feel their eyes trained on you. That was what the magic seemed like.

The door opened, and a small red-headed boy in a crooked top hat saluted the prince. "Your majesty, and guests, the great magician's court is ready to receive you."

"The magician's court?" Naveen asked. "But… I only asked for Howl…"

"Master Howl's there too." The boy grinned. "Come on in."

The four of them exchanged nervous glances, and walked through the doors and up a flight of stairs. It was old, but Mickey could sense the magic in them. Merlin once told him, that place like this were the best places for a magician to live, because he could draw the thick ambient magic out of the air.

But when they reached the top of the stairs, Mickey had to stifle a gasp.

The room was plain, and lightly furbished. Two door besides to one at the bottom of the stairs, one fireplace, and one table, around which sat five figures.

But oh, what figures!

Mickey's lack of training was probably the reason why he wasn't passing out right now. Mouse magic had the natural ability to sense the power of magic within anything. He couldn't do anything fine yet, like read the wind or sense the magical potential of the land, but he could feel Merlin whenever the old wizard graced Mickey with his presence.

Each of the people sitting at the table were at least half as powerful as Merlin, some more than that, and there seemed to be a demon living in the fireplace.

Mickey staggered a bit, drunkenly, before he regained control of his senses.

If he'd been properly trained, he would've passed out.

In the middle of the table, sat a handsome blonde haired wizard, probably the youngest of them all. He was relaxed, easy going, wearing loose clothes. His natural magical energy (Mickey couldn't tell what type he used) was probably the lowest in the whole room. But what little there was, he was using to wrap around a core of demon magic. Demon magic on par with whatever was living in the fireplace, burning just as bright, sat deep within him wrapped in the cushion of his magic.

This was The Wizard Howl.

Next to him, sat a man in a dusty old blazer, like you'd see in one of the old Western flicks Hollywood was coming out with. He looked perfectly ordinary, if you overlooked the fact that his stance was tense, as if waiting for a fight to start at any time, and his eyes were surveying the room with hawk-like penetration, just like Merlin. He was the most powerful wizard in the room, and probably the oldest too.

This was Balthazar Blake, Merlin's first apprentice.

Next to him was the oldest looking man in the room. He was covered in wrinkles and had enormous bags under his eyes. He smelt of alcohol, and wore a ridiculously large hat. He sat tiredly, like he could collapse at any moment, but his hand was always on the sixteenth century sword that hung out of place in his nineteenth century clothes. Mickey could tell he used mostly sea-turtle magic, but he could also use any other sea magic he wanted.

This was Captain Teague.

Perched on a chair like a gargoyle was a mandrill. Or at least, a man in the form of a mandrill. Mickey had to keep himself from flinching, as he realized he was in the presence of the most powerful practitioner of monkey magic; the most versatile of all magics, and present in the slaying of his mentor. This was the man who was present since Merlin's time, the artist who'd created many ancient magical relics, like the Tempus Simeon, or the Pheonix Medallion.

This was Monkey Master Sensei Rafiki.

An old middle eastern man was the last to have a seat at the table, a plain clothe wrapped around his eyes. Of all the people at the table, even the black cat he was stroking, he was the one who felt wrong. It took Mickey a moment to place it, but he realized that, of the entire council, this was the one who wasn't human. It was rare the inhumans were treated with the same respect as humans when it came to magic. Humans had to work for their magic, and any inhumans generally had inborn magic to begin with. But whatever the man was, he wasn't fae, so perhaps his seat on the council was as earned as the others.

This was Fasir the Seer.

The five of them, and the cat, and the thing in the fire place, all turned their gazes on them.

Captain Teague chuckled.

"Well hello there." Howl waved with a cheeky grin.

"Umm…" Naveen coughed. He couldn't sense the sheer power in this room, but he could understand the situation must be grave if five wizards were assembled. He put on his best diplomatic face. "Thank you for taking some time out of your undoubtedly busy schedules to meet with me. If you'll hear my plight…"

Rafiki laughed.

"Rafiki, control yourself." The black cat in Fasir's lap reprimanded him. The cat jumped onto the table, and turned to Naveen. "We're not here to meet you. We're here to meet him."

The cat pointed at Mickey, and he felt his heart's pace quicken. He remembered one of Merlin's last words of advice. _Don't trust the cat._

Rafiki laughed again. "Indeed! You have an air of destiny about you, eh!"

"I say." Howl sat up, as if seeing Mickey for the first time. "Did you know you have a curse on you?"

Mickey swished his tail. "I noticed."

Naveen chuckled nervously. "Can I ask… why?"

"You'll have to forgive us." Fasir said, with a voice like a mountain moving. "We are a cryptic lot, for the most part. Blathazar…"

Balthazar stood from his seat. "Micheal Banks." He addressed Mickey. "It's an honor. My name is Balthazar Blake. Do you know who I am?"

Mickey nodded. "You're one of Merlins three apprentices." He said. "Along with Veronica, and… um, sorry, Merlin didn't tell me about the third one."

Howl and Teague's eyes glistened with amusement, while at the same time Balthazar's eyes darkened. "Merlin is dead." He said. "I saw him die."

"It would appear otherwise." The cat said.

"Shut up Binx!" Balthazar snapped. He strode towards Mickey. "Tell me where Merlin is." He commanded.

"He's… dead." Mickey shuddered.

Balthazar made a visible effort to collect his cool. "I just said that." He said.

"And I agree with you."

"But if he's been dead all these years, how could he have taken on a new apprentice?" Balthazar asked.

Mickey squeaked. "Um… he hasn't been dead 'all these years'. He's only been dead for the past couple of months."

"That's impossible." Blake said.

"Improbable." Teague chuckled.

"I saw him die!" Blake yelled.

Binx coughed. "Fasir…"

All eyes in the room turned to the old man.

"Fasir, I think it's time you did a little explaining…"

Balthazar strode towards the old man. "That's right. You're the most powerful seer on earth. How could you not know about this?"

The old man sighed. "I did know. Merlin asked me not to tell you."

"Even me?" Balthazar snapped.

"Yes, even you." Fasir sighed. "When Merlin fought Morganna Le Fey in the time of King Arthur… it was to be the beginning of a new age. The Renaissance would approach, and magic would reach a level of finery and snobbery unmatched. You know of this Balthazar, you were there."

"The Rennaissance was a time of youth, and you fit in relatively well. But Merlin was already an old man, and the bright light of the age would have dimmed him. Understand… Merlin lives his life backwards."

"I know." Balthazar said. "I was there when his personal timeline reversed."

"Then you know he was an old man." Fasir said. "And when he trained you in the ways of magic, you'd already been his friend for over a thousand years. In the line of his life, he had grown bitter, and watching the modern world fade into the renaissance, the end of an era instead of the beginning, did little to improve his mood. He was alone, and angry, and wanted to spare you from his tirades."

"That does sound like Merlin." Mickey said. "Alone and angry that is."

"When you were children together, he was old enough to be senile. Attaching random words onto his spells, talking to owls, enchanting you so you could hear the owl… etcetera. He knew, even though his life was lengthened by magic, that his time was coming, and he wanted to see you one last time. Likewise you will see him again, but only when he is ready to see you."

Balthazar Blake leveled a glare at Fasir that would have made the entire first riech back away. "If you know so much…" He said, with a voice like ice. "Tell me why he's letting Veronica rot in her prison. He could unleash her at any time."

Fasir frowned. "I do not pretend to know his mind. I do not know what he thought, when he saw Veronica being freed. Whether he thought he could not do what his successor did, whether the time is not yet ripe, or that the only Morgannians left are not able to stop him from freeing her, or whether you had to go through some sort of journey of self discovery before he allowed you to free her. Maybe he was just scared, after seeing how she was freed, and decided not to intervene with fate. Personally, I would have found another way. But you were his mentor, and he yours, and sometime in between you will both become good friends. I'm sure he had his reasons."

"Don't let it bother you too much." Binx said. "You're getting side tracked from the reason we held this council."

Balthazar looked at the confused mouse, still standing at the doorway with the Prince. "Oh, I… wait, weren't there more of you?"

Mickey shrugged. "Peter and Shego probably got bored and wandered off somewhere ."

* * *

Peter, Iridessa, and Shego, explored what seemed to be Howl's treasure room. "This is the motherload!" Peter gasped.

"Should we really be in here?" Iridessa asked.

Shego looked around the room. "I don't trust them." She said. After Major Monogram, she'd decided not to trust any adult. "They might have some super special anti-nazi weapon around here somewhere they aren't telling us about."

"So, we need to experiment." Peter took a crystal ball of a shelf.

"Peter, it's not safe!"

"Call me Jack. Now, I'll need some swirly glass things with colorful water in them. We're going to find out what these magic thingies do with science!"

* * *

Rafiki laughed. "I'm sure they'll get into trouble that they can't manage." He said, reassuringly.

Mickey stared at him. "You say that like that's a good thing."

"Of course it is!" Howl said. "Getting into trouble is always a good thing."

"But back to the problem at hand." Teague said, in a bored voice.

"Right." Naveen coughed. "Mickey has discovered a way to win the war."

"Has he?" Howl leaned forward.

"We already know the war will be won by the allies." Fasir said. "It is inevitable. The only thing we do not know, is how many die in the process."

Mickey gulped. "Well before Merlin died… or, whatever he did… he told me to find the Order of Fantasia. He told me where to get to Neverland and find one of them…"

"That would be Captain Hook." Teague nodded.

"He was already dead by the time I got there." Mickey said sadly. "But I found his son Peter. Peter had this book." He took out Captain Hook's journal. "In here, it makes references to a clown, a princess, and six other people, Odette, Springshine, Clopin, Callico Jack, Elizabeth Swann, and Long John Silver. And then there's this riddle about the Order of Fantasia:"

"_The seven who will hold the keys to the Magic Kingdom;_

_A Pirate, a Princess, a Hero, a Thief, an Inventor, a Wizard, and a Star._

_One of them will scowl and glower._

_Two of them lived in a tower._

_Three of them have magic power._

_Four of them from death would cower._

_Five will save the earth in an hour._

_Six of them will have a magic flower._

_And each their enemies devour._

_And they will come together though time and space divide,_

_The Seven of the Order and a fairy too beside._

_And the Shadow Man will follow, and the Oracle will guide."_

Mickey shut the book and looked at the magician's court. "I… don't know what it means. I haven't been able to find any more clues, and I haven't been able to find anyone whose names are in this book."

"Of course not. They're all dead." Captain Teague sat up a little straighter. "Callico Jack, Long John Silver, and Elizabeth Swann were three pirate captains. Callico Jack was the first pirate, me and him were friends with Hook when we started piracy. They have nothing to do with the Order of Fantasia. As for the other three names you mentioned…"

Balthazar rubbed his chin. "Clopin, Odette, and Springshine. They were members of the order, along with Merlin, Hook, Snow, and Pierre. They're all dead. Or insane."

"But… that doesn't make any sense." Mickey frowned. "I mean… why would he ask me to look for the Order if…"

"I don't know!" Balthazar snapped. "Why does he do anything?"

"That prophecy…" Fasir stroked his chin. "I feel like I've heard it before, but it's not one of mine. Which is unusual, to say the least."

"Balthazar." Howl smiled. "I think it's time for a story."

Balthazar slumped down into his seat next to a grinning Rafiki. "According to Merlin, when we knew each other… The Order of Fantasia was a group of seven people, united by sheer chance, some already great some thrusted into greatness by the spell. These seven people were present at the birth of magic, when the very first spell was cast, almost shattering the sun. Merlin, Odette, Pierre, and Springshine, were able to fix the sun. But seven drops of sunlight fell to the earth."

"Each of the Order vowed to protect these seven drops of sunlight, which had taken the form of small, delicate flowers."

"You already know of Merlin and Captain Hook. Hook took his flower to live with him in a star, protected by all manner of mythical creatures. Merlin, ever mysterious, hid his flower somewhere nobody would think to look. Not even I know where it is."

"Clopin, the clown, was a parisian gypsy. He was a bit mad, but after the incident with the order propelled him to realize greatness, he helped defeat a monster worse than Hitler in his own time, and saved thousands of outcasts. A Hero. He buried his flower deep underground, so nobody would know where it was."

"Then Odette, the thief. She was just a thief. A young girl in some middle eastern palace who mastered magic so she could keep herself from starving to death. Last I heard of her, Maleficent drove her to insanity. But before she died, she ensured her flower would not be touched by evil hands."

"Then there was Pierre. A Rodigan inventer during the turn of the century. His mind was more brilliant then Tesla's or Edison's combined, but he was too far ahead of his time to make anything spectacular. He encased his flower inside of a suit of armor, guarded by mechanical soldiers, that would protect it no matter what."

"Then, Gothel. She was Maldonia's first princess. She could match Captain Hook in ruthlessness and cunning. She could do more with a knife to the back, than most kings could do with their whole armies. Her skin was as white as fresh snow, her hair was black as midnight, and her singing could charm the very birds out of the trees. She entrusted her flower to nobody and nothing but herself to keep it safe. Unfortunately, she was betrayed by her daughter, and the flower was lost."

"And finally, Springshine. She was a Star, the daughter of a nymph. One of the most powerful Stars. She almost singlehandedly defeated a Titan. She let her flower grow. Let it be passed down through the generations, by the greatest guardians of the time."

Howl frowned. "Everybody you just said, are dead. We assume Merlin will come back to life at some point because he didn't die when he was a baby, and until recently we thought Captain Hook might still be alive. But the Order of Fantasia is dead."

"The question is…" Teague stroked his beard. "Why would Merlin ask you to find the Order Of Fantasia? Assuming he knew they were all dead…"

"He knew." Fasir confirmed.

"…Then why would he ask you to look for dead men?" Howl sighed.

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Rafiki said.

"What's that?" Mickey asked.

The man-in-a-monkey's-shape leaped off his stool and stood in front of Mickey. "Do you trust Merlin?"

"Yes." Despite what Mickey knew about Merlin, even what he learned about him in the past half hour, Mickey trusted him without question.

"Then… do what he asks!" Rafiki laughed. "Maybe he doesn't want you to find the Order, just the flowers, and finding the order will lead you to them! Maybe, you never told him in the future that the Order is dead, just that you had to find them, and the past Merlin told you that! Or maybe… just maybe… the last lines of the prophecy will come true. That they will come together, though time and space divide."

The room went quiet.

"Or you could find the Oracle and ask her." Captain Teague shrugged.

"Oooh yes!" Rafiki said. "You should do that!"

"What is this… Oracle?" Naveen asked.

"The Oracle is the most powerful seer on the planet." Fasir said. "One of the avatars of magic itself. She knows all, past, present, future, physical, spiritual, mental, mundane, divine, demonic. She will answer one question for each who finds her, and only one."

"Or it could mean a different oracle." Captain Teague said. "You know how prophecies are. Bloody cryptic messes."

Howl grinned. "The point is, Merlin's advice was meant for you and you alone. There are many different interpretations of the prophecy, but it's the interpretation that you think fits that matters. You could even look for this 'Shadow Man'. Balthazar, any hints?"

Balthazar shook his head. "Merlin mentioned a Shadow Man once or twice, but he never talked about him beyond…"

"I know of the Shadow Man."

All eyes in the room turned to Naveen.

He didn't let his nervousness show. He was too busy calculating. His mother didn't know he was here. She thought it would be best if he remained in Switzerland. But he'd be just as safe in the Americas, and he'd be with Tiana and Evangeline. He had one chance – one improvised, on the fly chance – that the magician's council would be able to send him home to New Orleans. Now was the time to see if his mother's diplomacy genes were available to him.

"Ah… I had an encounter in New Orleans a while back, with a man the locals called 'The Shadow Man'." Naveen said. "If that helps."

"Yes." Teague stroked his beard. "I've heard tell of him too while I was there. But I control the rumors and shadows of New Orleans, and I know there is no such thing as a Shadow Man."

Naveen glared at him. "My wife and I would beg to differ. He turned us both into frogs, and almost stole the souls of the entire populace."

That got their attention.

"I… don't know what to do." Mickey said. "But I can't find anybody else in the Order. So I think I should look for this Shadow Man."

Naveen could have cheered for joy. But at that moment, he was interrupted by an explosion.

"Howl!" A girl came running into the room.

"Sohpie, what is it?"

"Pirates have invaded the treasure room!"

* * *

The five of them emerged into a busy New Orleans street. "I knew it was a magic door!" Shego said.

There was no doubt that this was New Orleans. The bright lights, the jovial mood, the enticing aromas. "This isn't far from Tiana's palace!" Naveen exclaimed.

"That place was so magical!" Peter grinned. Fortunately, Howl found the giant hole in the wall of his castle immensely funny, and had seen fit to give Peter a reward instead of a punishment. How, exactly, a dusty old carpet was a reward was anybody's guess.

"I have never been so humiliated." Iridessa said.

"Ooh! Ooh!" Shego went to point at a poster hanging in the alley. "Can we go see Captain America?"

"Maybe later." Mickey said. "First, we'd better go see this shadow man."

"Be careful." The five of them turned, as Captain Teague closed the magic door and stepped into the alley. "If you need help, call, I'll hear you. I doubt this 'Shadow Man' is a match for my voodoo." He turned to leave. "Meet me back here at sunset."

One second he was there, the next he was gone.

Mickey held a deep breath. "Well… is everybody ready?"

For some reason, Naveen shuddered when he heard those words.


	15. The Crooked Tombstone

A/N: Sorry about the late updates. I'm in the middle of moving right now. I had this ready by Thursday, but I literally couldn't get onto my computer until now.

So. This chapter. This chapter was a full eighth of the reason i started this fanfic in the first place. It was meant to be chapter five, but as the opening arc grew longer, I realized I'd have to put it on hold until the second arc. This is one of the more crucial steps in Peter Pan's overall character arc, and I'm loving every second of it.

Don't you love villain songs? Especially villain songs where the villain is trying to con the hero. Watch Poor Unfortunate Souls - the way the music starts slow, then gradually builds into something incredible, the look on poor Ariel's face... it's a work of art. Not so with Facilier's villain song. It has a few good lyrics in the beginning and the end, but the middle bit where he's reading fortunes puts the mood to the side instead of smoothly transitioning through the story. If only he'd done the card readings before the song or something.

Anyway, for my parody of the Disney genre, here is a song of my own creation entitled 'put a feather in your hat!' (I wish I could make the music and visuals for you guys to listen to) about how the hero is genre savvy enough to recognize the character of the con-man, and he gets conned anyway. Enjoy. Or have nightmares. Or enjoy the nightmares. This chapter was just so much fun.

* * *

_A couple of years in hell… can give you such a crick in the neck!_

* * *

The Prince and the four friends walked through the rows of silent tombstones. New Orlean's cemetery was probably one of the spookiest places on earth, the dead living in silent and unwelcoming unison, rows and rows upon countless rows all encased in stone.

They came to a stop in front of one tombstone. New Orlean's cemetery was, unfortunately, located in a valley. In the event that a hurricane or a tidal wave swept through the state, they didn't want to have their dead be dislodged from their earthen rest, so the New Orleans cemetery placed them in tombs and crypts instead of coffins in the ground. The tombs were marked not with tombstones, but with statues and giant blocks of carefully crafted marble, making them look almost like prisons.

But one tombstone jutted out of the landscape.

It was crooked, one side sunken into the earth. The cemetery workers would have fixed it up, or dug up the earth beneath it to find the body and put it in a proper crypt, but strangely, whenever they looked away, they forgot it was even there. And it was strange, for this tombstone had a face carved on it in twisted agony, a face filled with such pain and fear, that nobody could forget. But any complaints mailed to the cemetery workers, somehow lost all their ink before they even reached the people who could do anything about this horrifying tombstone.

The tombstone was cursed. There was no body buried in it; the body had been dragged straight into Underland, by a being that had only one name, and a name that dared not be uttered, lest it awaken her. There was only a shadow, buried dead in the earth, underneath the crooked tombstone.

The shadow of Dr. Facilier.

The prince and the four friends walked forward.

Shego clung to Peter's arm. "Relax." Peter said. "I'll protect you from any mean old oogey boogeys."

"Yeah." Iridessa was curled up into a ball inside Peter's coat. "Peter will protect us."

"You didn't tell us he was dead." Mickey said, nervously looking around the tombstones.

"I'm sorry." Naveen said, pulling the collar of his shirt. "I know I shouldn't have tricked you… I just wanted to be back in New Orleans, and see my wife and child."

"I understand." Mickey shivered, as he recalled the night Merlin found him. "I think I'd do anything to see my family again too."

The five of them stood in front of the crooked tombstone.

"Maybe this tombstone can tell us something." Mickey said.

"It is just a tombstone." Naveen shrugged.

"Yes, but it has a mouth." Mickey pointed to the screaming face. "It would be an easy trick to get it to talk again."

Naveen stared at him in horror.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Peter asked, with a grin.

"No!" Naveen cried. "You can't!"

"But it was your idea." Shego pointed out.

"But that was when I didn't know you could actually talk to him!" Naveen said. He knelt down in front of Mickey. "Listen. The Shadow Man is very dangerous, and very charismatic. Letting him talk to me was the most dangerous thing I've ever done."

"No problem." Peter scoffed. "We know he's a bad guy. All we have to do is not listen to him."

"You don't understand!" Naveen looked straight into his eyes. "I'm a charmer. I've had more girls fall in love with me then I could count. I play the Prince Charming so well, that I've made many southern belles from plantation farms forget that part of my heritage is African. I've made men forget that they love women. I even once charmed an alligator who was about to eat me and my wife. I am probably one of the most charismatic people you will ever meet, but Dr. Facilier managed to make turning into a frog sound like a good deal to me. He could talk you into anything. Even if you gave him back his magic, I doubt he would be more dangerous then if you gave him back his voice."

Mickey hesitated. Somewhere behind him, a murder of crows started cawing at each other. Peter laughed. "Don't tell me you're both scared of a statue?"

That made up Mickey's mind for him. "I know it's dangerous, but I've made my decision." He said. "Merlin told me to look for the Order of Fantasia. I don't know how else to do it, but this."

Naveen grimaced. "This is a really bad idea. This is a really dangerous idea."

"We're in the middle of a war." Mickey said. "Of course trying to stop it will be dangerous."

Naveen hesitated. Then sighed. "All right." He said. "You're the one who managed to stop the Headless Horseman. I hope you know what you're doing."

"I'm… pretty sure I do." Mickey had no idea what he was doing. This was just like the time he stopped the Horseman. He was in danger out of his depth, and he'd have to make things up as he went along.

Mickey took one last look at the statue's screaming face, and lifted his hands. "Here goes nothing. Are you ready?"

"No." Naveen said, before Peter could reply. "Nobody ever is."

Mickey took a deep breath, and said the spell. The substitutiary locomotion spell was the last basic spell every witch or wizard learned, before basic training was over and they had to select a school of animal to draw magic from. "Treguna Mekoides and Trecorum Satis Dee!"

At his bidding the tombstone came to life, with an unearthly scream. Mickey and the others covered their ears, before the screaming slowed down, and the face on the tombstone grimaced.

"A couple of years in hell… can give you such a crick in the neck." The face on the tombstone rotated a full three hundred and sixty degrees, before a loud snap echoed through the cemetery.

The five stared at him.

"Afternoon gentleman, lads, ladies. Welcome to my humble home." The face smiled. "A pleasure to meet you on this fine day, a tip of the hat… from Dr. Facilier." He chuckled. "Or at least, I would tip my hat, if I had one."

Naveen took a step back. "Oh don't be scared your highness, I don't carry grudges. What's done is done, and even if I was still a little upset, it's not you who sent me to hell." The statue grinned. "Why don't you introduce me to your kids? I see you and Tianna got busy, after I left. And a little freaky if the mouse is any indication."

"Don't you dare talk about my wife that way!" Naveen's countenance turned from fear to anger in a heartbeat.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean anything by it." He kept on chuckling. "You were much more laid back the last time I met you. My matchmaking skills must be pretty good if you and her are still living happily ever after."

"You didn't have anything to do with it."

"I turned you into frogs."

"I turned Tianna into a frog."

"Oh, right. Well, I guess I can't take all the credit, can I? After all, you were the one who turned your girlfriend into a slimy, amphibia–"

Naveen punched him in the face. Then he hissed in pain and retracted his hand. A couple of his fingers were broken.

"You wouldn't have that problem if you'd brought me all the way back instead of just my tombstone." Facilier grinned smugly.

A cold wind swept through the cemetery, chilling them to the bone. Mickey stepped forward. "I have some questions for you."

"I think introductions are in order first."

"I'm Mickey. This is Shego, and Peter."

"Jack." Peter corrected. Facilier looked at him with a wry grin.

"Now, what do you know about the Order of Fantasia?"

Facilier looked down at Mickey and laughed. "The Order of Fantasia? You want to know about the Order of Fantasia? Well, I suppose it's a fair question, but what do I get out of it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if I told you what I know about them, would you just end the substitutiary locomotion spell and send me back to hell? No, I'm no chump. Everything in this world has its price, same with everything in the next world. You want my help? You're gonna have to pay up for it."

"No." Naveen said. "If you're not going to help, we'll just end the spell and send you back." He put a hand on Mickey's shoulder. "Send him back Mickey."

Mickey shook his head. "What's your price?"

Naveen stared at him like he was mad.

Facilier looked thoughtful. "Only one price. Bring me back to life."

"I can't do that." Mickey said.

"But I can." Facilier grinned. "All you'd have to do is shake hands with me… or some other form of agreement… and I could do anything. That's the power of voodoo."

"Anything that's not about yourself." Mickey pointed out. "You can't use voodoo magic on yourself."

"Well you see, that would be true, but I have a sponsor who's loaned me a bit of magic that isn't due yet. If you could see it in yourself to doing this one thing for me, I could even clear my other debts!"

"No deal." Naveen said, and this time Mickey said it at the same time.

"I thought you'd say that." Facilier said. "So I'll sweeten the deal. There's a war going on right now, right? I was trying to keep it from starting, but it went ahead and started without me, so if you free me I'll work with you, I'll do whatever you say, until the war's over."

"You were trying to stop the war?" Naveen scoffed. "How? Was Hitler in the Mardi Gras parade you tried to steal souls from?"

"Hitler?" Facilier looked confused. "Sorry, I don't know who Hitler is. I was talking about the war with Maleficant and the Morgannians."

"How could you have prevented it?"

Facilier smiled. "You want answers to that, and more? All you have to do is set me free."

"Yeah right." Peter snorted. "We're not gonna fall for that old trick."

"Who says it's a trick?" Facilier asked.

"I do." Peter stepped forward. "I know it's a trick. But you can't trick me."

Facilier laughed. "Of course not."

Mickey suddenly became aware of demonic drumbeats. They sounded like they were far away, but slowly getting closer. He was about to say something about it when something caught his eyes. Namely, a pair of disembodied eyes, staring at him.

He couldn't move.

Shego whimpered, and Naveen angrily grunted, but neither of them could move either, and still the drumbeats drew nearer.

Facilier laughed. "Of course not." He said to Peter, who seemed to be the only one still able to move. "You're a clever little boy, how could I fool you?"

"I'm not a boy any more." Peter puffed up his chest. "I'm all grown up!"

And then the drumbeats reached the fore, and Failicer started to sing.

There's no reason to keep up this charade,

You've got me dead to rights!

I'm a villain, a scroundel, a charlatan, a crook,

I'm all smoke and mirrors and dancing lights!

As he spoke, Mickey watched in horror as columns of smoke erupted over the cemetery, and dancing lights swirled through their mists. The sky turned an eerie shade of green, decorated with multicolor fireworks. The chanting grew louder. This shouldn't be possible. The subsitutiary locomotion charm should have only brought back a small part of Facilier's soul, not nearly enough to do all this magic. Not even voodoo magic. Not even Whodoo magic!

_I could try to fool you with my clever words,_

_I could try to tempt you with a song!_

_I could try to pretend to be your knew best friend,_

_But we both know we wouldn't get along!_

Shego was terrified. Her life may end in a big song and dance number. She'd tried to break free, but once the magic started, she couldn't look away. She saw the fireworks, and would have cried, if her eyes weren't perpetually on fire.

_You know in your heart that I'm a villain,_

_And you know I'm just as loyal as a rat!_

_You've seen through all of my deceptions!_

_You should be proud of yourself, Put a feather in your hat!_

The chorus was supplied by the dead as they rose from their tombs.

_Bom-bom-bom-bom-Bom-bom-bom-bom-Bom-bom-bom-bom-Bom-bom-bom-bom_

_Put a feather in your hat! Put a feather in your hat!_

_You know he's evil, you know he's a rat!_

_So be proud of yourself, and put a feather in your hat!_

Peter looked around and suddenly seemed to grasp that there was a musical going on. As Facilier's crooked tombstone got out of the ground and began to dance, he sung in reply. "Don't think that you can trick me, by putting on a little show Shadow Man."

Facilier looked amused, before he continued his song.

_You're right to be suspicious of my tricks,_

_But singing is no sin, and I should know._

_Still, I'm glad you're staying on your guard,_

_That only goes to show:_

_You're more cunning then I'd imagined,_

_And I truly hope that you don't mind;_

_I think I'll keep trying anyway,_

_To trick you into a bind._

"Good luck." Peter said dismissively.

_I knew when I saw you you'd be stubborn,_

_Like all the other who've said that._

_So thanks, it looks like I'll need all the help I can get,_

_You're too clever for me, so put a feather in your hat!_

Rather than be terrified, Peter seemed to be relishing the challenge, and even begun to dance a little with the crooked tombstone as skeletons came out from behind tombstons and started using their bones as musical instruments.

_Put a feather in your hat! Put a feather in your hat!_

_'Good Luck'? You aren't the first person to say that,_

_But you're smarter than them, so put a feather in your hat!_

As Mickey struggled, his senses picked up something. Focusing his magic, he was able to realize why he was frozen in spot; a pair of disembodied eyes staring at him, staring at them all, with such power and venom that they couldn't move if they tried.

He felt Iridessa struggling inside Peter's jacket and prayed she'd be able to get free, but she was restrained too somehow.

_Now, here's what I'm going to do Peter;_

_You're going to make a deal with me._

_I'm going to bring myself back to life,_

_And I'll serve you faithfully._

_And before you turn your nose up,_

_Remember boy what I can do!_

_Wealth, health, happiness, and more,_

_That's the true power of Voodoo!_

_I can snap my fingers, and turn mice to horses,_

_I can make you fly just like that!_

Peter gasped, and the face on the crooked tombstone pretended to be surprised.

_Oops, did I let that slip? Well,_

_Don't take my word for it, put a feather in your hat!_

_Put a feather in your hat! Put a feather in your hat!_

_You can fly like a bird, just like that!_

_Don't take his word for it, put a feather in your hat!_

By now, a pair of rotting corpses had picked up the crooked tombstone, and were dancing with it. Peter walked up to him. "Tell me how I can fly!"

_No, I've said too much already,_

_I couldn't possibly say more._

_I'll hold my piece, to the very grave!_

_'Till my cold dead lips are sore!_

Peter drew his sword. "Tell me, or I'll crush your stoney-face into powder!"

"No need to get so nasty." Facilier scolded.

_The feather of a crow is what you need,_

_It's known to give the power of flight._

_Just pluck a feather from the nearest bird,_

_Make a wish, and hold on tight!_

Conveniently, a group of dancing skeletons had shocked the murder of crows out of their trees, and a feather dropped from one of them, and landed neatly in front of them. In the midst of the color, and the fireworks, and the dancing, Peter bent down, and slowly picked it up.

_You think that I can trick you?_

_I thought you were too smart for that?_

_So what do you have to lose Jack?_

_You might as well, put a feather in your hat!_

_Put a father in your hat! Put a feather in your hat!_

_You're far too smart to fall for that!_

_You might as well, put a feather in your hat!_

Peter held the feather in his hand. "All I have to do is make a wish?"

"Yes." Facilier said. "Make a wish… tuck the crow's feather into your hat… and you'll be able to fly like a bird." He winked. "I have more tricks just like that in store if you bring me back to life."

_Do you really think I'll trick you, like this?_

_Come on Jack, you're smarter than that._

_This is your chance to fly again…_

Dr. Facilier leaned in close, and whispered in Peter's ear.

_So go ahead, and put a feather in your hat._

Peter looked down at the feather in his hand, and with a slight, almost triumphant smile, he made a wish and slipped the crow's feather into his hat.

The body that the eyes belonged to materialized, and Mickey's heartbeat quickened as Alice appeared, sitting on a crypt. 'Soon, you'll all be mine' she mouthed, and then she disappeared entirely, and Mickey realized he could move again. "Peter don't! It's a trap!"

"Yeeessssss!" The music picked up again, as Facilier's tombstone went back to where it began.

_"Bom-bom-bom-bom-Bom-bom-bom-bom-Bom-bom-bom-bom-Bom-bom-bom-bom… are you ready!"_

_"Are you ready?"_ Facilier sang.

_"ARE YOU REEEEAAAADYYYY?"_

Peter began to backpedal in a panic, only to be grabbed by the skeletons. Facilier's face was suddenly painted with a skull mask, that alternately glowed white, green, and all the colors of the rainbow.

He opened his mouth, and it became a portal to hell.

Peter struggled as a hand that wasn't there tore his shadow away from him. The shadow struggled itself, and probably would have screamed if it could. It grasped at the ground so forcefully, that its non-existent fingers left grooves in the dirt where he tried to hold on. The terror, visible on the shilhuoette, didn't last much longer. Or at least, nobody on earth saw it last longer. The shadow was slowly, feet first, dragged into the mouth of the face on the crooked tombstone. It made one final attempt at saving itself, clinging desperately to the sides of the marble face, before the lips closed, and the face on the crooked tombstone – now Peter's face, crying silently – closed its mouth forever.

The earth in front of the tombstone was torn up, and several horrible ugly looking little dolls emerged. They dragged a shadow behind him, and even as Peter squirmed, they took out rusty sewing needles and began to sew the shadow to Peter's feet.

"Captain Teague!" Shego cried out, wondering why nobody else was doing the smart thing.

The skeletons tossed Peter to the ground, and crumbled into dust. Peter groaned and lifted himself up, and looked at his shadow. His shadow was bigger than he was, and leaner, and it was wearing a top hat.

"Hey." Said Dr. Facilier, Peter's new shadow.

Then they both got up and danced. And in perfect, demonic harmony, they started to sing.

_Put a feather in your hat! Put a feather in your hat!_

_Be proud of yourself, because you fell for that!_

_You knew I was a liar, you knew I was a rat,_

_But you thought you were the best,_

_Thought you were smarter than the rest,_

_So I put it to the test… ha!_

_And you put! A! Feather iiiiinn, yoooouuuur _

_haaaaaaaaaaat!_

He did a final slide on the ground, toward the group of children, and it looked for a moment that Peter's face was painted to look like a skull. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Doctor is back in the house."


End file.
